


Bad Idea

by veepthroat



Category: Veep
Genre: F/M, Hate Fuck, Work In Progress, anyway there's a scandal involved, im writing this for fun, lowkey attachment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-23 17:25:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 41,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7473033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veepthroat/pseuds/veepthroat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Begins just a few hours after the season 5 finale. Selina's out of office and is going to deal with the press more than she'd rather at this moment, thanks to Catherine and her doc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER!!!!!: 
> 
> I'm writing this for fun. Please don't take any of this seriously, as previously stated, I'm new to the writing veep fic thing. I wrote House fanfiction for years and then dropped off the face of the earth, and suddenly started writing again for something else. This is just a medium for me to express myself creatively, and get back into the game. 
> 
> Alrightyyyyyyy. First of all, I can't believe there are people who liked that one-shot I wrote!! People who wanted me to write some more as well!! Thank you guys!!!
> 
> Anyway!! SO, after 5x09 aired, I had this plot baby of "What if Catherine used her doc to blackmail her mom about sleeping with Tom? Or what if the doc was leaked to the public?" said plot baby only grew when 5x10 aired, and said documentary is now missing. So this was spawned. The title comes from the song 'Bad Idea' from the musical Waitress. Extremely fitting of a title, because like this pairing, this story is too, a bad idea.

One.

It was vodka. Straight vodka. She wasn't in the mood to drink the fruity shit. She needed the hard stuff.

The moment she had entered her house, the house she hadn't lived in for over a year, she was overcome with a feeling of dread.

And sorrow.

She needed to drown those feelings.

Two.

Whiskey. She’d found the bottle in her liquor cabinet and dusted it off before ripping off the seal and bringing the mouth to her lips.

No point in using a glass.

She had been the first female president and it had been by a stroke of luck. She’d lived the dream she had worked so many years to achieve for only a year before having it cruelly ripped from her grasp and had nothing to show for it.

No legacy. 

She had literally achieved nothing.

The overwhelming feeling of despair made her chest heavy.

She swallowed a mouthful of the amber liquid, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and kicking off her shoes, dropping onto the leather couch in the middle of the room.

Those fucking shoes. The same shoes she’d worn the night of the Congressional Ball.

Fucking Tom. This was all that motherfucker’s fault. He fucked her that night in the Green Room, and he fucked them both just days prior. 

It was his fault neither one of them was in the White House.

She was startled by the sound of the doorbell. 

She ignored it.

It rang again, and again, and thrice more.

She stood, feeling everything she’d drunk hit her all at once. Selina took a second to compose herself, straightening her skirt before answering the door, bottle still in hand.

“Jesus Christ.”

Tom.

The last person she wanted to see. 

“I fucking hate you, you fucking fucker. This is all your fault. You were so fucking sure you’d get the Presidency and it fucking backfired and it fucked us both. This is your fucking fault!” She launched into her tirade the moment he attempted to speak and raised a hand to slap him, only to have him grab her by the wrist.

“I’d fuck you right now if you weren't shit faced.” He replied, without missing a beat. 

“Fan-fucking-tastic.” Selina responded, pulling her wrist from his grip. “Grab a bottle.” She turned and headed back into the living room, dropping back down onto the couch. She wouldn’t let him know that his response caught her off guard. 

“I'm going to go ahead and assume you've forgotten the fact that we have an Inaugural Ball to attend in…” He paused and looked at his watch. “An hour and a half.”

“Fuck that. I've been humiliated enough today. There's no way in hell I’m going to that shit.”

“Madam President-“

“Don’t ‘Madam President’ me, you dumb fucker. I’m not going anywhere, nonetheless with you.”

“Where’s Gary?”

“What’s that have to do with anything?”

“You need to get yourself together, you want to argue with me? Fine, you can do that all you want, after the Inaugural Ball. Call Gary so he can help you pull yourself together. If you don’t, I’ll just get his contact information from Dan.”

She could not believe that this asshole was standing there, in her living room, telling her what to do. 

It was a slight turn on.

She shook the thought off. 

No. He was the reason she was miserable. She couldn’t be turned on by him any longer. She couldn’t. He was the reason she was drunk off her ass at five-thirty p.m., wallowing in self-pity.

“Get out. I’ll see your ugly mug again in an hour.”

\--

“Green or black?”

Gary held up a pair of heels in each hand. 

“The black ones. They reflect my mood best. Get rid of those green ones, I never want to see them again.” She snapped, waving a hand to dismiss him as she accidentally stabbed herself in the earlobe with her earring. 

“Mother fucker.”

“Mom?”

Selina looked up into the mirror of her vanity to find Catherine standing in the doorway, significantly dressed down from earlier in the day.

“Catherine, what are you doing here? I thought you’d be back at your animal sanctuary with Marjorie, or whatever.”

“I changed my flight… I didn’t want to leave you alone.” She responded before heading over and sitting beside her mother. “Your ear’s bleeding.” 

Before she could even bring her hand up to it, her daughter was already tending to it. It was a simple gesture, yet it made Selina’s heart pang. 

She was an awful mother, she knew that, Catherine knew that as well, and yet here she was, making sure her mother was okay in her time of need. 

It was almost enough to bring Selina to tears. 

Almost.

She could not allow herself to have a meltdown at this moment. The last thing she wanted was to allow anyone to see the toll the last twenty-four hours had had on her. 

Besides, she had already done her make up. 

“Thank you, honey.” She replied, taking her daughter’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, mom. But I’m still not leaving for another two days. So I’ll be around to keep you company, whether you want me to or not.”

“I get it, Catherine. Now, please go do something with yourself. Mommy has things to do.”

“Have a mint before you go, you smell like liquor.” Catherine quipped, kissing the top of her mother’s before exiting.

“Who is she!?! That is not the sweet little Catherine you raised!!” 

Selina had completely forgotten Gary was in the room.

“She’s got a backbone now. Truly my daughter.”

\--

She probably should have purged before getting into the car but she wasn’t a fifteen-year-old girl with self-image issues anymore. 

The liquor was getting to her and it was making her queasy. 

“Here.”

She looked over to find a pill in Tom’s outstretched hand.

“Trying to roofie me?” She spat.

“Definitely.” He responded, rolling his eyes. “Take the damn pill, Selina. It’s scopolamine.”

The word sends her back to a different point in time, almost a year earlier when they were campaigning. She’d had motion sickness on the bus and Gary had offered her one of the pills, prompting Tom to pip up a “Fun Fact” about the drug. That entire week was filled with “Fun Facts” from everyone that damn bus. She would kill to be able to go back then, when her dream was still achievable. There was so much she would go back and change. 

“Fuck off.” She responded, as the car came to a stop.

“Alright. Well, but on that toothy smile of yours, you’ve got cameras to face.”

“Fuck you! My smile is not toothy!”

“That’s the Selina I know and love.” 

The door to Tom’s side of the car was pulled open and he climbed out, extending a hand out to her. She took a deep breath, praying she didn’t throw up the second she stood up. Selina grabbed his hand, gripping it far more tightly than necessary, before gracefully exiting the car. The second she was out of the car she was met with the hundreds of camera flashes from the reporters awaiting the guests’ arrival. 

She should have taken the goddamn pill.

“I’ve got you.” She heard Tom mumble as he slinked an arm around her waist.

Goddamn that fucker and his ability to still be charming when she wanted him dead. 

They did what was needed to be done, posed for pictures, answered questions from reporters in as little time as possible without it being overly suspicious. 

The moment they were inside the hotel lobby, she shoved him away and headed towards the bathroom, ignoring anyone who attempted to approach her.

The second she entered the stall, she was on her knees, hugging the toilet. She felt someone pull her hair out of her face and she couldn’t bring herself to look at who it was without the fear of throwing up anywhere other than the toilet.

“Tom told Gary you were in here, who then found me, because as feminine as he is, it would be frowned upon for him to be in the women’s bathroom, although now that I think about it, it’s probably an all-inclusive bathroom…”

Amy.

“Anyway… Ma’am, I told you this once before, what seems like a hundred years ago, but I’m gonna need you to Ma’am up. Put on a brave face and go out there, pretend you don’t want to kill Tom, and sure as hell pretend that you’re not half drunk. The last thing you need is for the press to find out that you’re in here expelling the contents of your stomach because you decided that the time between the Inauguration and the Inaugural Ball was the best time to get plastered, instead of just waiting for the Ball itself.”

It took several minutes for her to stop dry heaving. Amy handed her a bottle of water and one of the pills she had rejected earlier as she picked herself up, lowered the lid of the toilet and sat down.

“Your mascara’s running.”

“I want to fucking die.” Selina moaned.

“Here, I’ve got you.” Amy responded, grabbing some toilet paper and dabbing it lightly against Selina’s cheeks in attempts to stop the stream of black running down her face. 

“Gary also handed me this.” She pulled out a small bottle of concealer and a handheld mirror. 

Selina looked at herself in the compact mirror. 

She was a fucking mess. 

Why was it that now that she wasn’t President anymore, everyone seemed to care about how she was doing so much more so than they had when she actually wanted them to care?  
“You were right, you know. I was a shitty President. 44th most ineffective President out of forty-fucking-five. What a fucking legacy, right? The second that bitch was sworn in, Tibet was freed and she gets all the fucking credit.” 

“Ma’am – “

“No, let me finish. I was shit at this, this is fucking karma. This is what I get for being a cunt to everyone, and yet you, who for a brief period of time jumped ship, still managed to want to thank me at the end of this all… Why?”

“You are a cunt, you’re self-aware of that fact. Cunt gate was the prime example of you being aware… but we’re all cunts. I thanked you because I respect you, Ma’am. I was your Chief of Staff for five years and your ambition and drive was what made me enjoy working for you, until that meltdown. The thing is you, don’t fucking listen. You’re stubborn and hard headed and that’s gotten you so far but…it’s also what’s held you back in some ways. Listen, I’m fond of you, you’re like the better version of my sister, and sometimes I hate you, but I hate everyone… Please, just…don’t make an ass out of yourself tonight, in front of everyone out there. It’s your last night of having to be in the spotlight.”

“Thank you.” Selina responded, standing and giving the younger woman a hug, allowing herself a rare flicker of humanity. “You’re kind of like another daughter to me, more competent than Catherine has yet to prove herself.”

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”  
\--  
The seating arrangements were a fucking disaster. To her left was Tom - how fitting it was that she was being forced to spend the entire night with him beside her, from the moment she had left her home. Who the fuck was in charge of planning these events was clearly not aware that they needed to be in the know of whatever was happening in the days prior to the events to make sure that seating arrangements were to be adjusted in case of any spats between guests seated together.  
To her right was Gary, who was hovering over her, constantly asking if she was alright. Then it was Kent, Ben, Dan, Mike, Amy, and Amy’s date? She realized that the man beside her ex Chief of Staff was the same one who had been following her around earlier.

“Is this Buddy?” Selina asked, pointing to him. 

“Yeah, this is Buddy…my boyfriend.”

“So he’s not a dog?? Well, shit.”

“Buddy Calhoun was part of the recount in Nevada.” Gary whispered quickly into her ear. She swatted him away.

“Gary, for the love of God, switch seats with Ben.”

He looked wounded at her request, but quietly obeyed. 

“So, everyone’s favorite Congressman, Jon H Ryan, might have testicular cancer.” Ben announced to the table, as he took the seat beside Selina.

“That poor fucker.” Tom responded. “Wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

“I’d wish it on you.” Selina mumbled. Ben chuckled beside her.

“It’s probably karma.” Dan added from across the table. “He may or may not have fucked a minor a few weeks ago.”

“What is wrong with you men? You can’t just fuck whoever you please. Put some effort into it first, and damn well make sure she’s at least fucking eighteen. The last thing any of us need is to be associated with a pedophile because that’s what he’s be if she turns out to not be legal.”

Was anyone she associated herself with not a fuck up?

“And to think, you were so proud to have gotten him elected, Dan!” Amy added joyfully, smacking him in the arm.

“Well, that damage control will no longer be the problem of any of us at this table.” Kent replied, fidgeting with the center piece.

“Speak of the devil, the man of the hour has arrived.” Tom said as Selina looked up to find Jonah behind her. 

“Where’s your gaggle of hot male interns?” Amy asked.

“Make sure you don’t fuck any of them unless they’re legal.” Selina added, watching as Jonah furrowed his brow.

“How do you guys all know about that!?” He groaned, clearly embarrassed.

“We also know you soon might be a one nut wonder.” Ben added.

“I am not going to lose a ball, thank you. Anyway, I didn’t come over here to talk to any of you losers.” He turned his attention to Selina. “Ma’am, I just wanted to apologize for fucking up that vote.”

“Yeah, you did fuck it up, jizz face. But let bygones be bygones. Nothing matters at this point anyway.” She replied, waving him off. 

“Mrs. Meyer?” A young woman approached the table, looking ridiculously out of place in jeans and a t-shirt. “President Montez would like to have a word with you.”

The entire atmosphere of the table changed in an instant. The last thing Selina wanted was to speak to her successor. She groaned, before standing from the table, hearing someone mutter ‘Godspeed’ as she followed the young girl to the President’s table. 

\----

Montez’s face lit up when Selina approached the table. 

“Madam President.” 

It felt insanely fucking unreal to be addressing someone else with the term that had been hers until just a few hours prior.

“Selina. I know that the circumstances are…unfortunate for you, but I just want to thank you, for the Tibet deal. Such a momentous deal to break during my inauguration. Thank you so much for that.”

She had never felt more rage than in that moment. Not when Congress had fucked her twice, not when Tom had asked her to be his veep, not when even when she’d discovered Andrew had been cheating on her.

This fucking bitch, who had taken any chance of her being in the White House where she rightfully belonged, was standing in front of her, thanking her for brokering the most important deal of the last ten years, without even offering to give credit where credit was fucking due.

She swallowed hard. It was taking everything in her to not lose it right then and there and tear the bitch apart. 

“It was my pleasure.” She responded through gritted teeth, before turning and heading back to her table.

“What did Presidential Barbie want?” Ben asked, the moment Selina reclaimed her seat at the roundtable. 

“To thank me for Tibet. That fucking cunt. She thanked me, and didn’t even bother to offer to give credit where it was due.” She brought her hands up to her temples, groaning in defeat.

“How much longer before I can leave this fucking fiasco?” 

“Montez has a speech to make and then you know, the actual ball part begins, with the dancing. You dance through one song and then you can excuse yourself without looking too suspicious. Seeing as Tom is your quote-unquote date for the night, it would be best fit that he too leaves with you.” Kent informed her.

“What is with all of you forcing me to spend more time with this fucker than I would really ever like to? It’s his fault this happened. You’re all out of jobs thanks to this asshole beside me.”

“Listen, I know this is my fault, and I’m sorry that things didn’t go the way I had originally thought they would go, but let’s be frank here. Everyone but three people at this table were out of a job the moment the tie in Congress happened. Ma’am, you and I both know that the incompetence in your staff was nothing more than…alarming. Besides from that fact, all but two were searching for other jobs. Dan’s already got a deal at CBS, Kent’s trying to work at a publishing company, and Amy’s got one foot here and the other in Nevada. If you’d paid attention to anyone other than yourself for the last three months, you would have realized that they were already preparing for the worst. The House fucking us over was just the final nail in the coffin of your staff’s disintegration.”

Everyone seemed to be laying it on her tonight, as if it were the best night for people to tell her where she went wrong.

“Listen here, you Viagra guzzling turd.” She hissed, turning to face him. “I am aware that I am fucking awful. I know that, I really do. I could give the goddamn Wicked Witch of the West a run for her money. The last thing I need today, any day for that matter, is to hear it from you, the main reason I’m going to need to get a new anti-depressant prescription to keep me from going fucking insane in the next few days.”

She found the look of surprise mixed with concern on his face slightly confusing. 

Everyone at the table was aware she was on anti-depressants. Had none of them ever let it slip to him that the days when she was overly enthusiastic about an event had occurred because she’d taken her anti-depressants that morning?

Selina looked over at Amy, who had a hand on her chin, her lips pursed. That was all she needed to know that Tom was in fact, unaware.

“You didn’t know?” 

“No.” Tom responded, shaking his head.

“We never told him…” Ben added.

“It was out of respect for your privacy.” Murmured Kent.

“It wasn’t in our place to reveal something so private.” Amy finished.

“I’m touched that you refrained from informing him on the state of my mental health, but it would have been bright to give him a warning, on the off chance I needed to be committed.”

She nearly added ‘again’ to the end of her sentence but realized that literally no one seated with her knew she had been committed once before. Hell, she was still curious as to how Catherine had managed to find that out and then have the nerve ask her about it for her documentary.  
Before anyone could retort, the same young woman from earlier approached the table and Selina rolled her eyes when the girl finally reached her.

“Ma’am, President Montez has requested that for you and Senator James to join her and her husband on the Ballroom floor now that they’ve had their first dance…"

Fantastic. 

Tom stood first, extending a hand to her to help her stand, in both of a display of that charm everyone knew but also a façade to make it seem as there was no animosity between the pair. Selina grabbed his outstretched hand and paused for a moment, bracing herself to stand. 

She was still tipsy. 

“Keep your hands away from my ass.” She hissed quietly through one of the most insincere smiles she had ever plastered onto her face as she led them to the dance floor. They reached the floor and she placed a hand on his shoulder, the other still in his. 

“Feeling better?” He asked, in attempt to make small talk, placing his freehand on her waist and pulling her closer so that her face was almost pressed against his shoulder.  
She wondered if he was holding her that way for show, or because he had noticed that she could barely walk in a straight line.

“Actually, yeah.” She responded, allowing herself to have a moment of peace. “Thanks for giving the pill to Amy.”

“My pleasure. Next time don’t be so hard headed and just take it the first time.”

She shook her head, letting out a soft laugh.

“Second person to call me hard headed in the last two hours.”

“And the first?”

“Amy, right after I’d thrown up, too.”

“How fitting.”

It was odd that as they shuffled along to The Cranberries’ Linger any disdain she had felt for him earlier in the day was beginning to dissipate. 

Maybe she was still drunk.

The thing with Tom was that she didn’t really hate him. He had, for the better part of a year been her biggest ally. Through everything that had happened in the last few weeks, there was still a mutual respect between them. If there were any real hatred, their encounter earlier in the day would have been the 

“I hate this song.” She muttered in attempts to distract herself from the fact that currently being in his embrace was making him feel funny. 

“You ever see that Adam Sandler movie Click?”

“That damn remote would sure would have come in handy after the election.”

“Fun fact: they used this song in one of the scenes in the movie. Right before he almost dies…gets me every time.”

Selina scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“Thank you, Encyclopedia Tom.”

He laughed, a deep, throaty laugh and she could have fucked him again right then and there.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya know, it's a little surprising to me that there are actually people reading this thing that I'm writing for the hell of it. That being said, I truly appreciate the kudos and comments!!! Anyhow, here's chapter 2! It starts off from Tom's POV because I wanted to dive into that physique for a little bit, or at least try to anyway. Let me know what you guys think. :)

If there was anything Tom James had learned, it was that Selina Meyer was an enigma. 

One minute she hated him with every fiber of her being, the next, she was upset, possibly hurt, yelling about how he had denied remembering their almost sexual encounter almost twelve years ago. 

An encounter that hadn’t happened for the sole fact that they were both married at the time. He could have fucked her that night, he wanted to fuck her that night, but the fact was that if they had had an affair then, it would have most definitely have come to light, essentially ending Selina’s career. So he walked away. Men could do whatever the fuck they wanted, fuck whoever they wanted, and have all of their vices come to light and society would still forgive them. Women, on the other hand did not have that same novelty.  
Even then, she’d spoken of wanting to run for President one day, and seeing that potential in her, he couldn’t allow himself to be the reason she wasn’t able to run.

But that was then and motivations changed. When she’d asked him to be her running mate, after a disastrous few months in office, he’d said yes in a heartbeat. He’d thought it would be guaranteed way to end up with his end game, Secretary of Treasury.

Until Selina had fucked him, and made him economy Czar. 

That’s when he’d started plotting. She had taken what he’d wanted most from her, and he would do the same. He had been so sure he was going to end up President. He was far better received by the public, and everyone for that matter, than Selina was. He knew he was outshining her, he hadn’t meant to do it while campaigning, it was just how he was as a person, and he had tried to water it down and yet the people still liked him better.

So he had taken advantage of the fact that he was viewed as the “The Best President America’s Never Had” and started gathering abstentions. 

He had been so close to getting what he’d wanted.

Until Doyle fucked him over.

Seems he hadn’t been the only one who had wanted to fuck over Selina Meyer. 

But plotting to figuratively fuck her over had resulted in finally, after that almost encounter over a decade ago, literally fucking her.

So on the bright side, one good thing had come from this all. 

They were still swaying together when the song ended and he noted that her mood had lightened increasingly since he’d shown up at her door. 

“Can’t wait to get the fuck out of here.” She commented as they made their way back to their table.

“We’ve got to mingle for another fifteen minutes before we can leave without it looking too suspicious.” He retorted, picking up the glass of champagne he had left when she’d dragged him onto the floor and downing what was left of it. He watched as she grabbed the bottle that was sitting in the center of the table and took a lengthy swig of it.   
He knew she did it to show him up, and the fact that she was doing so turned him on ever so slightly. 

“Where’d the Donner party wander off to?” Selina commented taking note that the table was completely unoccupied.  
They had literally been gone for five minutes.

“If we’re lucky, we can get away with leaving without any of them noticing.” 

“I like the way you think, James. It’s currently…” She grabbed her cellphone from her spot at the table, checking the time. “10:30. Meet in the lobby at 10:45, then we can get the fuck out of this shit fest.” 

“Deal.”

\--

He was sitting in the hotel lobby, tie undone with a glass of scotch in his hand when he saw her approach. Her face was drained of color and she looked pissed – whomever she had chatted with in those fifteen minutes had said something to get her going.

He stood, meeting her in front of the doors of the lobby.

“Get me the fuck out of here.” She hissed, grabbing his arm and heading towards the exit. 

“Car’s already waiting.” He responded as she dragged him outside. He had chosen to not socialize with anyone in that room and instead had gone up to the front desk to ensure their car was already waiting when it was time for them to leave. 

They reached the black town car and the driver opened the door. Tom stopped, letting Selina enter before him and followed suit once she was fully inside.

The second he shut the door, she grabbed the loose bowtie that was around his neck, and slammed her mouth against his.

This was not something he had expected to happen again. His hands moved to her waist and pressed her against him as her hand continued to yank at his tie.

The second they pulled away for air, she threw up into the ice bucket beside her.

Uncalled for.

“Christ.” 

“I want to die.”

“You look like you’re already halfway there.” 

He reached in front of him, and knocked on the glass separating them from the driver. 

“You wouldn’t happen to have any napkins, or tissues and a bottle of water, perhaps?” 

“Shame you two aren’t the ones being celebrated tonight.” The driver commented as he handed Tom a stack of tissues and a bottle of Smart Water.

“Thank you, really. We wish it had gone the other way as well, but you can’t always get what you want.”

“God, I hate you.” Selina moaned as she snatched the napkins from his hand. “You’re always so fucking charming when you’re talking to other people.”

He shrugged, uncapping the bottle of water and taking a drink from it before handing it to her.

“You really do look bad.” 

She was shaking at this point and her face had lost all of its color. He reached a hand over and pressed it against her forehead.

“Definitely got a fever going there.”

“Fuuuuuuck.” She moaned again. “It’s from that drizzle earlier. I can’t get ever get a fucking break, can I?” 

“Here.” He responded, taking off his jacket and draping it around her shoulders. He fiddled with the vents of the air conditioner until they were closed – the last thing he wanted was for her to get even more ill before reaching her home. 

\--

“This is the worst day of my life.” 

She was miserable. 

For a brief moment she had thought things were going to be okay, how silly of her, to actually begin to think that this night would turn around for the better.   
Her head was throbbing, she was dizzy, and she was sure as shit going to throw up again. There was a flicker of relief when the car pulled up to her front door, only to be diminished by the fact that she wasn’t quite sure she would be able to make it inside. That was how dreadful she felt. 

“I’ll help you in.”

Thank god the fucker was a gentleman. She watched as he hopped out of the car, shutting the door behind him, a few seconds later appearing at her side as he popped open her door. 

Reluctantly, she exited the car, teeth chattering at the biting January chill. She straightened herself out linking her arm with his and headed towards the front door. 

Her hands were shaking so much that she dropped her keys.

“I got ‘em.” 

Tom swiftly picked her keys up and within seconds had her front door open.

“Am I going to need to carry you up the stairs?”

“Hopefully not. But do me a favor, stay close behind so I don’t fall down the stairs and crack my head open or some shit. That’d be a headline for the papers.”

“Former President Meyer found dead, after night of drinking. Talk about a legacy.”

“Fuck legacies.” She responded as she began to ascend the stairs.

Selina could feel Tom’s body heat behind her. When she had asked him to stay close behind, she hadn’t imagined she would feel his energy so forcefully. She staggered a bit and felt his hand against the small of her back, steadying her. 

She suddenly felt warm.

Her phone beeped as they reached the landing and she pulled it out, groaning as she read the message. She looked up from the text she had received to find Tom watching her, a brow raised.

“Catherine is spending the night at Majorie’s.”

“Don’t want to be alone?”

She paused before responding. 

It was rare for her to have moments where she actually craved the company of another person, besides the last time she’d been sick, Tom had kept her company and kept her entertained.

“No.”

“I’ll keep you company.”

“Don’t you have a wife to go home to?”

“Macy and I are separated, have been separated since Ryan’s accident. She couldn’t give a fuck whether I come home or not.”  
Interesting.

“Well, I suppose it’s okay. I mean, it’s either you or I call Gary. You’re the less smothering option.”

“Let me tell the car to go, I’ll be back in a bit. Try not to die in the meanwhile.”

She rolled her eyes as he headed down the stairs.

Selina opened the door to her bedroom kicked off her shoes, and climbed into bed, not caring enough to undress and change into something else – she was too goddamn tired. 

“I could have been naked.” She commented the moment Tom walked into the room.

“What difference does it make, we’ve already fucked.” He responded, leaning against the door frame.

“Yeah, but if I recall correctly, neither one of us lost an article of clothing.”

“I still have your thong.”

“My favorite one too, I want it back.”

“You rarely wear underwear as it is, you’ll be okay without those.”

“Good to know you spent a lot of time looking at my ass.”

“It’s a nice ass to look at in a pencil skirt, especially when there’s no distracting panty lines.”

“I’m not wearing underwear right now.”

“I know.”

“Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to get your lanky ass over here and fuck me?”

She watched as he raised a brow at her.

“Well?”

She asked. 

He smirked, shaking his head before approaching the bed and sitting down beside her.

“That fever you have has got you slightly delusional.”

“I’m not delusional, I know what I want, and what I want is to fuck ya, cause I know it'll take my mind off of how awful I feel.”

“Are you sure?”

“A hundred percent.”

She grabbed at his tie just as she had earlier, bringing his face so close to hers that she could feel his breath.

“Well?” She huffed.

That was all it took for him to press his mouth against hers. He pushed her against the headboard of her bed, and Selina brought her hands down to his chest, her nimble fingers beginning to unbutton his shirt as he slipped a hand behind her, pulling down the zipper of her dress with such force she was afraid he’d break it.

“This dress is De La Renta, asshole. Be careful with the zipper.” She murmured against his mouth. She pushed off his shirt as she pulled at his bottom lip, the feel of his hands along her back sending a shiver down her spine. He pulled away from her, starting to unbuckle his pants and she slipped off her dress, discarding it on the floor.

“You literally just told me to be careful of the dress and there you are, throwing it on the floor.” Tom commented as he too, discarded the rest of his clothing onto the floor.

“It’s my fucking dress.” 

She gasped in surprise when he dove for her, settling between her legs, his mouth against her collarbone. His mouth made its way to her breasts, his tongue cool against her nipples. She took a deep breath when he pulled away from her for moment. The next thing she knew, he had his tongue against her clit, and her legs where draped over his shoulders.

“Fuuuuck.” Selina moaned as he squeezed one of her breasts, her back arching as she felt his fingers enter her. He hummed against her clit, the vibration causing her muscles to tighten and she let out a loud whimper that was uncharacteristic of her. 

Tom’s hand left her breast and moved down to grip her ass as he continued to fuck her with his mouth and fingers. 

She gasped loudly as she felt her body tense with an orgasm so intense she let her eyes roll back as her body began to quiver. He kept it up as she rode out her orgasm, the sensation causing her to let out several whimpers of pleasure. He pulled away from her and settled beside her, propping himself up on his hand as he looked over at her.

“Giving you a moment to recover.” He smirked.

She rolled her eyes not even bothering to hide the smirk forming on her own face. She did need the moment to recover, her body still felt like jelly.

Selina rolled over to face him before pushing him onto his back and straddling him, her hands planted firmly against his chest. She rubbed herself against his cock, smirking as he groaned in response. She could feel him twitch beneath her, the tip of his cock rubbing against her still sensitive clit.  
She brought a hand between their bodies, grabbing his cock and running her thumb against his tip. She gave him a squeeze, which caused him to arch his hips toward her. She teased him with her hand a little longer before guiding him into her.

“Do. Not. Move.” She commanded as she fully took him in. She rocked her hips forward, ever so slowly, tapping her fingers against his chest as she watched him bit his lower lip.

“You…are a fucking tease.” He groaned.

“Might as well make you suffer a little.” She purred, leaning forward so that he was sliding out of her. She grabbed Tom’s hands and brought them to her hips before slipping back onto his cock. Whenever he would attempt to move, she’d stop to remind him that she was the one in control at the moment. She took on a slow rhythm to continue to tease him, occasionally brushing her lips against his. 

“Never took you to be submissive, Tom.” 

A moment later she was on her back and he was thrusting into her, his mouth against her neck sucking at her flesh. She dragged her nails against his back as he fucked her, both of them moaning in pleasure. He brought his mouth to hers, pulling at her lip. She slid a hand down to his ass and gave it a slap before reaching between them and squeezing his balls.

“Fuck me harder.” She moaned against his mouth, one of his hands coming up to give her breast another squeeze. 

Tom pulled her hips against him before grabbing her hands and pinning them above her head.

“Mother…fucker.” She panted against his mouth as she arched into him, her heart rate increasing and her face starting to flush. She thought the first orgasm had been mind-blowing, but this one was going to be even more so. She let out breathy moan as she felt her core tighten and he released her hands. She dug her nails into his shoulders as she came, moaning into his mouth. He pulled her hips against his once more, holding her there as he thrust into her. He let out a low growl as he came, collapsing beside her when he was finished.

“Fuck.” She said softly, her voice shaky from the intensity of it all.

“Yeah.” He responded breathlessly.


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is...grossly domestic. Apologies in advance.

It was nine when she woke up, and to her surprise she had woken up with her face against Tom’s shoulder and his arm draped around her.

They’d fucked and then ended up cuddling in their sleep. How...domestic. 

She hadn't even remembered falling asleep.

Selina yawned, turning to face the man lying beside her.

Tom was drooling, mouth wide open. She reached for her cell phone, she needed a picture of this to use against him in the future.

She didn't bother to check the notifications on her phone - every morning she woke up to at least fifty - and immediately opened up the camera and snapped the picture, discarding her phone to the foot of the bed.

“Wake up, bozo.” She shoved his shoulder, waiting a moment before doing it again when he didn't wake the first time.

“I am awake.” He responded, not bothering to open his eyes. “And I know you just took a picture of me, I heard the shutter effect, but I’ll have you know that I took a similar one of you.” He continued, opening his eyes.

Selina climbed over him and grabbed his phone. No way in hell he was going to keep that picture.

“It’s locked.” He commented.

“It’s also dead.” She responded, showing him as she attempted to turn on his phone, only to get the apple logo. She climbed back over him and connected it to the charger her phone had previously occupied.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Wouldn't want you unable to play sudoku when an uber takes you home in an hour.”

She stood from her bed and stretched, muscles sore from the sex they’d had and walked over to her bureau grabbing a few things before heading towards her bathroom.

She stopped in front of the mirror to exam herself. The remnants of her mascara and eyeliner had smudged, giving her an almost raccoon like appearance. She had hickey on her collarbone and an ugly purple bruise on one of her breasts. That fucker had sucked and squeezed too hard.

Selina showered, taking her sweet time, letting the scalding water run over her. When she finished, she slipped into a tee shirt and some yoga pants before walking back into her bedroom to find Tom half dressed.

“You left your mark last night.” He commented, turning to show her the scratches she’d left all along his back.

“Yeah, so did you.” She responded, lifting her tee and pushing her bra aside to reveal the bruise on her breast and the mark on her collarbone. “So it seems like we’re even.” She finished, smoothing her shirt back down.

“She be tiny, but fierce.” He quipped, buttoning up his shirt.

“I am not fierce, I’m fucking ferocious.”

“Ferocious is synonymous to fierce.”

“Shut the fuck up, you sound like Kent. Which would make you significantly less fuckable.” 

Her phone went off, and she climbed onto her bed feeling around until she had it in her grasp. 

“Amy? I’ll call you back.” Selina ended the call and discarded her phone once more before crawling towards the head of the bed and settling against the headboard.

“Netflix and chill?” She asked, patting the space beside her with one hand and reaching for the remote on her bedside table with the other. “Minus the chill part, since we did that last night..”

She watched as Tom gave her the once over, contemplating her proposal before occupying the space beside her.

“We can watch Click.”

She rolled her eyes.

They’d got through the film, and Selina couldn’t help but cackle at the fact that he hadn’t been joking when he had said the scene where Adam Sandler’s character almost dies got to him every time. She had looked over at him during that exact scene to find him wiping at one of his eyes and she had given him a playful shove.

The doorbell rang and she groaned, as she pulled herself out of bed.

“Stay here. Don’t make any noises. I’ll be back in a second.”

As she descended the stairs, she suddenly remembered she’d told Amy she’d call her back. She grabbed her phone and found Amy’s number in her favorites (she was third, right below Gary and Catherine) and pressed call. The moment it started ringing, the doorbell rang and Selina groaned as she stood from her bed and walked down the stairs to the foyer. She reached her front door and her call reached voicemail, and she hung up before swinging the door open to find no one other than Amy herself.

“Ma’am, Im so sorry to show up unannounced but I did the worst thing I could ever do in my life last night and I really need someone to talk to about it before my head explodes.” The words literally flew out of Amy’s mouth, the way they always did when she was overwhelmed. Selina would have had a difficult time understanding her had she not known that this is how the younger woman got when she was stressed out and had had enough.

“Slow down, Speedy Gonzalez. Come inside and you can tell Mama all about whatever it is.”

“I fucked Dan.”

“I hope you used a condom, because if not...yikes.”

“Of course I used a condom, I know Dan’s the biggest slut in D.C., the last thing I need in my life is a venereal disease, or God forbid an impending abortion.” Amy responded, pulling off her coat and hanging it by the door.

“Well then, what's the problem?” Selina asked as she lead her into the living room and positioned herself on the couch.

“More drinking?” Amy commented, motioning to the discarded bottle on the coffee table.

“God, no. That's from the wise decision I made to get plastered before the Inaugural Ball.” She replied, pulling her feet up beneath her. “So what are you gonna do about ol’ Danny boy?”

“The fuck if I know.” The younger woman responded as she sat on the opposite side of the couch, arms crossed. “Right now I’m so repulsed with myself that I’d like to be dead.”

“I can arrange that!” Selina quipped in attempts lighten the mood. How odd for her to attempt to make someone feel a little better about something. 

She watched as Amy grabbed one of the decorative pillows, putting it over her face, and screaming into it.

“Been there, done that.” 

“I am so fucking stupid.” Amy groaned, throwing the pillow aside.

“Amy, honey...Come on now...You and I both know that your feelings for Dan, are clearly something much more than just hate…”

“I am not in love with Dan Egan.”

“Talk to Dan.” Selina retorted, diverting back to the original topic of their conversation. “You have a real chance at having a healthy, regular, sex life. God knows you need it.”

She watched as Amy crinkled her face in response.

“What are you gonna do about Duddy?”

“I broke up with Buddy this morning.”

“What kind of goddamn name is Buddy anyway.”

“He’s from Nevada.”

“That explains it, those dumb mother fuckers would name their kids after their family pet.”

“I’m gonna talk to Dan.”

“Damn right you are.” Selina reached over and patted Amy’s shoulder. “Go get ‘em champ. And call me when you’re done, I need something to keep me...entertained.”

“Will do, Ma’am.”

“You know you’re no longer employed by me, correct? You don’t need to call me ma’am all the fuckin’ time.”

“Sorry, force of habit.” Amy responded, standing. “Thank you...for letting me vent and not kicking me to the curb for showing up unannounced.”

“You’re not Gary, I’d never kick you to the curb for showing up like that. Now go get ‘em, Tiger.” 

They headed towards the door, Selina pulling the door open as Amy pulled on her coat. 

“See ya around, Selina.”

She watched as Amy headed towards her car, waiting a second after she pulled off before closing the door. She headed back upstairs to find Tom absently scrolling through her netflix list.

“Dan and Amy finally fucked.” She announced as she reclaimed her spot on the bed.

“You mean they weren’t already fucking?”

“I know, right?”

“MOM!” 

Catherine was wailing so loudly that they heard her before she even opened the door.

“Mom, I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me.” She wailed as she pushed open the door to Selina’s bedroom, stopping dead in her tracks at the sight of her mother and Tom. 

“Honey, nothing you could ever do could make me hate you, and trust me you’ve done a lot. Why would I hate you now?” Selina responded, disregarding the fact that Tom being in her bedroom was something out of the usual. Catherine needn’t be so surprised to see them together seeing as she was in the room the first time they fucked, hiding in a closet.

“You haven't checked your phone?” Her daughter responded quietly.

“No? I mean, I called Amy but I didn’t look at any of my notifications...” She replied, gesturing at Tom to hand her phone to her. She pressed the unlock button and immediately noticed that the number of notifications she had was almost triple the amount it usually was. She had thirty missed calls from Gary, ten from Amy, another ten from Ben, fifteen missed calls from Catherine, two calls from Mike and Kent, one from Dan, and one from her ex-husband, but aside from the missed calls, she had over two hundred text messages from those same people plus others. The amount of messages was staggering.

“Catherine Selina Meyer, what the FUCK did you do?” 

“I swear mom I didn't do anything! I told you the hard drive was missing and you said you didn't know where it was!!”

And then it clicked.

Catherine’s documentary had been leaked to the public.


	4. FOUR

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've come to realize that being based on a comedy, the fics for this series tend to be more on the dramatic side, and this isn't any different. anyone actually reading this, thanks for being interested in this mess I'm writing for the hell of it.

“What is she talking about, Selina?”

“The entire country knows we fucked because Catherine here decided it would be appropriate to leave footage of her hiding in the closet with us fucking in the background in her stupid little documentary!” She shrieked as she stood and approached her daughter.

“It wasn't the full doc that was leaked! It was just that one bit, I'm so sorry mom.”

“‘Sorry’ is not going to save my career. Jesus Christ, Catherine. You didn't think to at least delete that bit? It didn't process in that mousy little head of yours that I was sleeping with a married man? That both of us have such high political profiles that this would potentially ruin us? More so me because I'm a woman? God, what did I do to you to deserve this? And it's fucking documentary, not doc!”

“I didn't intend for this to happen!!”

Selina couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

She’d done a lot of awful things to her daughter in the twenty-three years she’d been a mother, but she knew that Catherine didn’t have a malicious bone in her body. At least not malicious enough to do this. 

If she were so malicious, she’d truly be her father’s daughter.

Catherine was crying. She was crying loudly and obnoxiously, as she was prone to do when she was upset. Selina wished her daughter hadn't inherited that trait of hers - it made her look unflattering, that her daughter cried the exact same way her mother did when she was devastated.

It was a good thing Selina herself rarely cried. At least in the company of others.

“I’m going to release a statement.” Tom announced, standing from his position at the foot of the bed.

“The fuck is that gonna do?”

“Damage control. It’ll look... a lot less like you sleeping with a married man if the press knows I’m separated from my wife.”

“You’re separated, that’s still going to make us look bad. A separation does not mean a divorce.”

“A separation means a divorce is imminent though, which in this case it is.”

“You're not Bill Clinton, ya fucktard. As well received as you were, they didn't like ya THAT much.”

Before Tom had a chance to respond, both of their phones went off. Selina looked down at the incoming call - Gary - and pressed ignore. Another call came through almost immediately and she rolled her eyes as she checked again, sure it was going to be Gary but to her surprise it wasn't. 

“Yes, Ames. I fucked him.”

“Holy shit...Selina, you're going to need to do some major damage control.”

“What’s it matter anymore? My career was over the moment that cunt Montez took the credit for Tibet.”

“Okay, but you can’t not make a statement about this. They’re gonna want to hear from you.”

“I don’t give a fuck what they want from me. I’m not President anymore. I don’t owe them jack shit.”

If this had been ten years ago, when flip phones were still relevant, she would have slammed the phone shut, but instead, she simply pressed the red icon on the screen of her iphone before turning it off and lodging it back at her bed.

“Get your statement out and make it as sincere as when you had to backtrack for sympathizing with that gunman in Philly.”

“Are you really not going to make a statement?” Tom asked walking over to her as he rapidly responded to a message on his phone. 

He was so...calm and put together in these kinds of moments and she hated that about him. She’d never met anyone in her twenty years who could be so calm in moments that would make anyone else literally rip their hair out. Or kill themselves.

“I’m going to make a statement, but I’m going to let you make one first, so I can play mine off of whatever you say.” She responded.

Catherine’s sobs had died down enough for them to forget she was still in the room, until there was a loud wail, startling them both from the little bubble they had created where it was only them in the room. 

“Catherine...get out of here. Please, if you love me, get out of my face for the next few hours. And if you’re going to continue to sob that way while in the house, please make sure to cover your face with a pillow to muffle out that god awful sound.” Selina snapped, dismissing her daughter.

The doorbell rang causing her to groan and roll her eyes. 

“You’ve got two options, come downstairs or stay up here. I can’t guarantee I’ll be back right away.”

“You didn’t last time. I’ll come down with you this time.”

“Alright, just don’t follow me to the door because I know there’s press outside, and the last thing we need is a picture of me wearing this,” She motioned to her current ensemble, something that would clearly imply that there was a level of comfort between the two, “and you leaving my place in last night’s clothing.” 

She lead the way downstairs and headed toward the door as Tom lingered in her dining room. 

Selina pulled the door open to find her ex-staffers standing in the doorway, with at least thirty reporters on her lawn. 

“Dining room.” She instructed as she let them in, locking the door shut behind her and setting off her sprinkler system.

Fuck them. If it weren’t because she had more pressing matters to deal with, she would have had them escorted off of her property with fines for trespassing. 

“There is no way I am letting you stay quiet on this, and the rest of these bozos agreed once I informed them of your choice and we...assembled to help you draft your press release.” Amy announced as she followed after her former boss.

How odd for them all to think about someone other than themselves, to not be self-preserving for once.

“Ma’am, do you need some tea or anything?” Gary asked, immediately smothering Selina, much to her annoyance. The last thing she wanted at this point in time was to be smothered by her overbearing bag man. 

The last thing she wanted was to be smothered by anyone at all.

“No Gary, I do not. Please don’t smother me right now.” She responded, as she sat at the head of her dining room table.

“Seems like we’ve formed a crowd.” Tom commented, as he took the seat to her left.

“I cannot believe you were upstairs while I was here earlier.” Amy responded, taking the seat to Selina’s right.

“At least he wasn’t hiding in a closet with a camera.” Ben added as he slid into the chair beside Amy.

Selina couldn’t help but narrow her eyes at him.

“Too soon?” He asked, chuckling. “Well, at least this is an upgrade from Charlie Baird.”

“Not as vanilla.” 

“Kent, you’re the king of vanilla.” Amy scoffed.

“What does that even mean?”

The entire table turned to look at Mike.

“Shouldn’t you be out finding a job to support your three new children?” Selina inquired, still honestly surprised that they had willingly come together to help her. She was...touched.

“I'm allowed to enjoy a few days of freedom before I become a slave to someone else whom I won't actually enjoy working for.”

“You enjoyed working for me?”

“I loved working for you.” Mike responded, sincerely.

It made her feel a little guilty about planning to fire him. He was the only one to ever say he loved working for her. Other than Gary. But Gary thought she was the sun, the moon, and the entire Milky Way Galaxy. His world orbited around her.

“Wow. Okay, back to getting this thing written.” She diverted as she turned to Amy. “What's the best strategy.”

“Honestly, we discussed this on the way here, and we think that the best way to have this blow over as smoothly as possible is to -” 

“Create the guise of a relationship.” Kent finished Amy’s thought as Selina snapped at his attention.

“Before you protest,” he continued, raising a hand as he looked from Selina to Tom, “let us give you the story. As campaigning brought you two closer together, Tom revealed to you that he and his wife were in the process of getting divorced. You, having gone through the experience before, were there, willing to be a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on and somewhere along the way the two of you began to develop feelings for one another. But, seeing as a relationship would be seen a conflict of interest, that's where Charlie Baird comes in as a beard to draw the attention away from the two of you.” Kent motioned towards Ben,giving him control of the floor.

“So you've got that pretty boy in the picture now, but you dont really click well, and even though the press is eating up like the fuckin’ retards they are, it's not working. So that’s when you two decide that your feelings are so strong for one another that you're willing to throw it all away to be together.”

“No one is going to fucking believe that bullshit!” Selina barked, rolling her eyes.

“Ben is kidding on that last part.” Amy responded rolling her eyes. “What he meant to say is that Charlie isn't working out, so that’s when you two,” She motions between Selina and Tom, “decide that you’re not going to bail out his bank, manipulating him into dumping you, which allows you two to sneak around the White House together and decide to wait until after the vote to see whether or not you can go public. Obviously you both lost the vote, meaning you intended to go public a few days after, but the leak beat you to it. The impending divorce is mentioned, highlighting the fact that they've been separated for ages, making it not look so bad.”

“It just makes it look like some poorly written Nora Ephron movie. I wouldn't buy it.” Selina responded.

“You wouldn't buy it but the press would. Stone cold bitch made soft by a man, they’ll eat that shit up. Especially, since they love Tom James, and for some reason, love the sight of you two together.” Ben retorted.

“Ben is correct. Your numbers were significantly higher if you were pictured socializing at an event or meeting the normals together.” Kent stated.

Goddamn him and his fucking polling numbers.

“It seems like a viable plan…” Tom murmured. She noted he bad been awfully quiet throughout this discussion. 

“But?” She asked, knowing he had more to say.

“Are you okay with having to fake it for a few weeks until it all dies down and we can go our separate ways?”

She was genuinely not used to people asking her if she was okay with anything.

“I'm not okay with anything that's happened in the last two hours, but there's no way in fuck that I'm gonna let this sink the ship I've spent the last twenty-five years building. The only thing I'm okay with is the fact that no other part of that goddamn documentary was leaked because then we would all be royally fucked, and I would have no chance in hell to redeem my career because of how incompetent you fucktards are. ” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples in attempt to relieve some of the anxiety this was beginning to cause her.

“I know you said you didn’t want anything, but I made you a cup of your favorite tea…”

Selina opened her eyes and gave him a nod.

She wasn’t going to argue about it. She was too fucking tired.

“Draft a statement for review.” 

She took a sip of the tea.

****

It took a little over an hour for her them to draft a statement; Selina and Tom had agreed to release a joint statement, making it easier on everyone involved to have the story match up. There was too much at risk to leave any room for error.

It was just the two of them left sitting at the table, Tom staring up at the ceiling, Selina with her head in her hands as she contemplated how her life had come to this moment and whether or not it was worth it to down a few sleeping pills and sleep away the next few days.

Maybe it would all have just been a terrible nightmare.

“Mommy?”

She took a deep breath, hesitating for a moment before meeting her daughter’s gaze.

Catherine’s eyes were red from crying, and the oversized sweater she was wearing making her look like the chubby teen she had once been.

“I’ll give you two a moment.” 

They both watched as Tom left the room.

“Come here.” 

Selina pushed her chair back and motioned for her daugher to approach her, pulling her into her lap when she was within reach.

She had to put aside how angry. She had to try and be a good mother for once in her life. She had to be understanding and worst of all, forgiving.

“I’m so sorry, mom.” Catherine buried her face in her mother’s neck as she started to sob again.

“Honey, please stop crying.” Selina pulled away from her, protecting herself for the inevitable snot that would start dripping out of Catherine’s nose and gingerly grabbed her daughter’s chin, forcing her to look her in the eye. “I know this isn’t your fault. We’ve got it under control, okay? Mommy lashed out because she was mad, not because she hates you. I could never hate you.”

“I saw read the statement you guys released, please go away for the weekend, I want to make it up to you, take the Palm Beach house. You can have it. Meemaw should have left it to you. I’ll relocate the sanctuary somewhere else.” 

Catherine pulled away and dug the keys to the house out of her pocket putting it in her mother’s hand. Selina was so surprised by the gesture that she was rendered speechless.

At least one good thing had come from this.

****

“You know that the entire time we’re traveling, we have to layer the couple thing on thick, right?” It was just the two of them now, sitting side by side on the couch, passing a bottle of vodka between the two of them.

“Yes, Major Tom, I’m very aware that we’re going to have to fake it till we make it, so that we’re believed by the general public, but come on, you’ve been hot for me since the moment you met me, so it shouldn’t be so hard for you. Me on the other hand, I might deserve an Oscar for the performance I’m about to put on.”

“Oh please.” Tom scoffed, rolling his eyes at Selina’s comment. 

As if she hadn’t been attracted to him from the get go either.

How cute of her to pretend otherwise. 

“It’s a good thing we’re flying private, less people to put up a front for.”

“Still gotta deal with going through security, which will give them reason to talk.”

“Our flight leaves at like, five am, and it’s a Tuesday, which means there’ll hopefully be less people at the executive airport than there already are, because who the fuck flies out five in the morning on a Tuesday morning?”

“My assistant is dropping off a suitcase in an hour, hopefully he’s not startled by the press.”

“I’ll keep the sprinklers running all night. Maybe the water will freeze over night so that if any of them try to come up in the morning, they’ll slip on their asses. Sleazy fuckers.”

Selina grabbed the bottle as Tom handed it to her and drank the remainder, slamming the bottle down on her coffee table as she wiped her mouth with the back of her free hand. She stood from the couch and walked over to her liquor cabinet and blindly grabbed at a bottle, not caring what it was.

Another night of drinking was exactly what she needed. She turned to return to the couch, only to be startled to find Tom directly behind her.

“Jesus fuck.” She murmured bringing a hand up to her heart. “Tryna’ give me a fuckin’ heart attack?” 

“No more liquor, Lina.” He said quietly, his tone direct. 

She paused, momentarily taken aback. She hadn’t heard that nickname in years. Not since the night they had almost fucked. Selina swallowed hard before responding.

“Don’t tell me what to fucking do, T.” She spat back, knowing for sure that no one had called him that in years. 

In the time they had spent together all of those years ago, she’d learned that he didn’t like nicknames, yet somehow, he’d allowed her to give him one, only because it was short and simple.

He grabbed the bottle from her hand and placed it on top of the cabinet.

“It’s already late and you’ve got to pack a bag. You really want to wake up hungover when you get literally an hour of sleep?”

“Who says I’m gonna sleep at all?”

He eyed her, those blue eyes looking right through her.

“Fine.” She responded, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

“You’ll thank me in the morning.”

“Yeah, in your wet dreams, maybe.”

****

Their flight was delayed because of a snowstorm.

Instead of just going through security and boarding their plane, they were now stuck in waiting for another hour to hour and a half. 

They were sitting side by side, Tom reading the newspaper and Selina scrolling through the book she was attempting to read on her ipad, still wearing her sunglasses on inside in attempt to draw less attention to herself.

“The glasses make you stick out more.”

“Who gives a flying fuck?”

“So does that scarf.”

“It’s fuckin’ cold out. Besides, you were the one who insisted I bundle up seeing as I was sick the night before last! They’re already staring anyway. They’re gonna be staring for God knows how fuckin’ long.” She retorted, irately.

“Let’s give ‘em a better reason to stare.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and reluctantly, she leaned into him.

“Relax your posture. You’re so rigid you feel like a corpse. Which means they can see that you’re tense, which means if anyone takes a picture, it’s gonna look staged.”

“Do you always have to be such a smart ass?” She responded, smacking him in the arm before relaxing against him.

“There’s the Lina I’ve known for an eternity.”

She truly hoped he couldn’t feel her heartbeat speed up. There was something about that goddamn nickname that did it for her. 

Maybe it was because most of the nicknames she had been referred to in the last decade all had negative connotations. From Meyer the Liar, to Viagra Prohibitor, to being called a cunt by every member of her staff, it was a welcome change of pace to be called something that wasn’t truly vile or malicious.

“There's a picture of us in the paper.” He responded and she turned to look over at the page he was currently reading.

It was a photo of them dancing at the Inaugural Ball, a snapshot of when he had pulled her so close against him that her face was almost pressed into his shoulder.

Definitely the kind of picture that would make the public suspect they were fucking.

“It’s a good picture. Find out who took it and ask -”

She was interrupted by the messages notification sound from her iPad and she looked down at the screen to find the same picture she had just been looking at in print, displayed in her screen in high quality.

_One of you should DEFINITELY use this as either 1. The lock screen on your phone (make sure the paps get a look of it if they're around, don't make it too obvious you want them to see it though) or 2. Post it on Twitter._

Selina scoffed at the attached message Amy had sent. As if she would use that picture as her lock screen. Did she look like the type of woman whose cell phone background would be one of her and her significant other? Especially with a picture as couple-y as that one? Had Amy forgotten who she was?

“Amy wants us to -”

“I got the same message from Dan. I’ll tweet it.”

“It’ll get more attention from you anyway. They like you better. Best President we never had, remember?” 

****

Once they’d boarded the small private jet, she had almost immediately fallen asleep, her head resting against his shoulder. Tom grabbed the fleece blanket on his lap and draped it over them both. 

He knew she was tired. He could see it in her face, the bags under her eyes and in the fact that she had fallen asleep so quickly. He knew for a fact that she hadn’t slept at all the night before, from watching as she frantically attempted to pack a suitcase, not knowing what to pack, to having felt her toss and turn for most of the night as he himself had not gotten any sleep either.

“We’re fucked.” She had sighed turning to face him as they had laid in her bed together, still not fully processing what had happened.

He’d wondered how she was keeping it together so well. Any other woman in politics would have had a meltdown - rightly so considering the situation she had been thrown into - and yet Selina hadn’t had any sort of emotional blow up outside of the usual ones for her.

He was pulled from his reverie when he felt her shift beside him, a small groan escaping her.

“Your shoulder is the worst fuckin’ shoulder I’ve ever used as pillow.” She complained, straightening up and attempting to crack her neck. “Holy shit.” Were the words she released as they both heard crack so loud that the one flight attendant on the plane looked over in surprise. 

Selina pushed up the armrest between them and grabbed his arm, draping it around her front as she leaned her back against his side.

“I am...terrified this is going to end badly.” She said so softly that he wouldn’t have heard her had he not been so focused on her for the last few hours. “I have worked so goddamn hard to get to where I am today, to build up my reputation to the status it has for it to be taken away from me, like everything else has been taken from me. It’s not fuckin’ fair.”

He couldn’t find the words to respond and pulled her into his lap.

“I’m glad you aren’t responding. You’re a smart one. Sometimes you just need someone to listen, not respond, ya know? If it were anyone else I’d have said that to, I would have been smothered with reassurance. I just want someone to let me sulk.” She finished, sighing as she leaned her head against his chest.

“We can spend this entire trip sulking away.” He responded, running his fingers along the small of her back.

If a year ago someone had told him he’d be sitting on a plane with Selina Meyer sitting in his lap, her head against his chest and his heart racing from the way he currently felt, he would have called them fucking crazy.

Yet here he was, with her small frame pressed against him, struggling to keep his heart rate from increasing even more so. 

****

She hadn’t been to her father’s West Palm Beach house in over a decade, and pulling up to the house was making her giddy. She had always loved spending the summers there as a child, mostly having the entire property to herself since her parents were almost always at the country club.

The car came to a stop and she pushed the door open, immediately groaning at the sign reading The Catherine Calvert Eaton Memorial Animal Sanctuary. 

“That name’s a mouthful.” Tom commented as he nodded at the sign.

“That name’s fuckin’ ridiculous.” Selina responded, walking up to the sign and giving the wooden post holding it up a solid kick, snapping it in half. She turned to look at Tom, finding the look of pure shock on his face amusing. She might have been a solid five-three, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t physically fit. 

“Up high!” She laughed, giving him a quick high five as he cracked a smile in response, shaking his head.

It felt good to laugh.

The weather in Florida was the complete opposite of the cold they had been enduring in Maryland, and Selina could feel herself become a little less miserable as she climbed the stairs leading up to the entrance of the house. She could smell the ocean, welcoming the cool breeze that ruffled her hair, such a welcome difference from Maryland’s cold, biting winter winds. It had to be at least seventy-five degrees, and she was sure it would reach the high eighties in the next few days they would be there. 

She unlocked the front door, punching in the code to the alarm once they were both inside and hanging her coat before stretching her arms above her head. She felt her shirt rise up, and a moment later felt Tom’s hand pulling it back down.

“So what’s the plan, boss?” He asked, leaning against the door.

“We hang out here for a few days, lay low. Go back north and hope this mess has cleared up a bit.”

“And then?”

“We’ll deal with the ‘and then’ when we see what it’s like when we get back.”

“I’ve got a proposal for the next few days.”

“What?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No cell phones. No outside communication. We can watch tv but no news channels. No internet. Take this time to really, unwind, destress.”

“What kind of new age pussy bullshit…”

“You’re only going to get more stressed out as the days go by, because knowing you, you’re going to be constantly checking the news for your name. Besides, if you’re not constantly searching headlines about yourself, Amy and Gary will, and even though you’ll ignore Gary’s messages, you’re in capable of doing the same to your best friend. Give it a rest for a few days, learn how to really relax.”

Selina rolled her eyes, before taking a second to consider his request.

Maybe he was going somewhere with this. Maybe disconnecting herself for a new days would allow herself to return home with a clear mind to focus on the bigger issues that were going to present themselves in the upcoming weeks.

“Fine.” She responded, pulling out her cellphone and sending a few quick text messages to Amy and Catherine before turning it off and shoving it at him. 

“You’re a lot more willing than I thought you’d be.” Tom responded, eyebrows raised in genuine surprise as he pocketed her phone.

“I don’t want argue. Everything always has to be a constant battle. I’m tired.Physically, mentally, and emotionally. ” She shrugged. “And contrary to popular belief, I’m not that uncompromising.”

Might as well be open about how she felt. She had a feeling things would go a lot better between the two if she just really spoke her mind for the next few days.

“Alright then. On another note, what do you want to have for dinner?”

****

They settled on ordering out for dinner, keeping it simple with pizza and some beers and afterwards he’d taken the car and gone for a drive, leaving her alone.

There were three things she did in the time she was alone.

First, she screamed. Loudly, in an unapologetic way, until her voice went hoarse. The house had at least half a mile between any neighbors. She knew no one would hear her.

The second thing she did was cry. 

The tears were hot and thick as they slid down her face and she couldn’t help the sobs that escaped her and she hated herself for being weak, for not being able to hold it together for longer than a day. 

Life was fucking unfair and she was tired. Tired of having to put on a brave face after every single fucking disaster that came her way, tired of having to hold it together every time instead of being able to scream and throw a few glasses.

And finally, after putting herself back together post meltdown, she grabbed her things and dragged them up to the master bedroom before taking a shower, the water so piping hot it burned. 

When she was finished, she’d changed into some jeans and a tee shirt, before heading out onto the house’s back deck.

Selina slid open the glass door, surprised to find Tom leaning against one of the railings, smoking a cigarette.

“I thought you quit?” She asked as she approached him.

Back when they had been spending a lot of time together during his first run for senate, he had just quit smoking, while she on the other hand had become so stressed and overwhelmed that she had picked it up.

“Stress smoker now.” He responded tersely before taking a long drag from the cig. She motioned for him to hand it to her, taking a long drag herself when he did.

“I relate.” She responded, blowing the smoke out of her nose.

That was when he started laughing. He was laughing so hard that he had to wipe his eyes, and she honestly wondered if he was having a psychotic break.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” 

“Don’t blow smoke out of your nose again. Your nose does this thing, and you look like one of the baby dragons from Game of Thrones.”

She rolled her eyes, taking one last drag before putting out the cigarette against the side of the railing and lodging the butt at him.


	5. FIVE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. 
> 
> So there's some stuff here that I used good 'ole google to help me with because I am not a Law/Political Science major, therefor I do not know the Law of the Land like the back of my hand. Anyway, here's the next chapter, it's kind of short, but it'll pick up from here, though it might just take a little longer. I'm aiming for this thing to have no more than 10 chapters, which means the ones to come will probably end up being longer as well. :)

“What do you want, fuck face?”

“Can’t sleep.”

“Well, get in then.”

She pulled the covers back and patted the empty side of the bed. He contemplated it a moment before joining her. 

Sometimes she surprised herself at the moments she decided to not be a bitch. She could’ve just turned him away and sent him back to his own room, but if she wanted to be honest with herself, she wouldn’t have minded the company.

“You know I didn’t intend for this to happen.” He began as he turned to face her. 

“Yeah, a lot of things either of us intended to happen, happened. That’s why we’re here.”

“I wanted Secretary of Treasury as badly as you wanted the Presidency. Fucking you over was my way of getting revenge. Didn’t expect Doyle to fuck us over as well.”

“Yeah. Me neither. Talk about a goddamn plot twist. I hope that fucker drops dead. If he wanted Secretary of State so bad, he could have just fuckin’ asked. I might have actually given it to him. Maybe. But only after making him bow to me and kiss my feet.”

“You mean kiss your corns?” Tom replied, teasingly.

“I do not get corns, you fucking asshole!” She retorted, taking one of the pillows on the bed and shoving him with it. 

“I’m sorry.” He responded, grabbing the pillow from her and laying it in his lap. “About everything.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

\--  
She was up before the sun and slipped out of the bed, contemplating for a second on whether or not to smother Tom as his obnoxious snores filled the room.

They’d stayed up well into the night, just talking.

It was odd for her. 

She wasn’t used to having someone genuinely be interested in listening to her talk. She was used to having people she paid pretend to be interested in what she had to say. As for the men she usually slept with, they were mostly interested in getting off and getting out.

Not that she minded it. 

It was just nice to have someone actually listen to her for a change. 

Selina fumbled her way to the bathroom and brushed her teeth, before quietly pulling some clothes out of her suitcase and changing.

Usually she would have been as loud as she wanted, but Tom had been good to her in the last twenty-four hours and she figured the least she could do was give him the courtesy of uninterrupted sleep. He had to have been as tired as she had felt for the entirety of the previous day. 

She pulled her hair up into a ponytail. 

It was time for a jog.  
\---

She had gone on a forty minute jog, and when she had returned to the house, the sun was up and the weather was perfect for a swim so she had changed and decided to go for a dip. 

She was still dripping from the pool, sunglasses resting on the top of her head as she reentered the house through the kitchen’s sliding door. 

Tom was leaned against the island counter, still in his pajamas - an old college shirt and some plaid bottoms - newspaper in his hand. He looked up at the sound of the door opening.

“You just get up?” Selina asked, sliding the door closed behind her as she shook out her wet locks. If she didn't shower soon, her hair would definitely tangle in the worst ways imaginable because of the exposure to the chlorine in the pool.

“Nah, I’ve been up. Early riser.”

“Well, I haven't had breakfast yet so if you're hungry, we can go out and get us something. We should probably go grocery shopping.” She responded as she made her way towards the refrigerator to examine its contents. 

The moment she nearly passed him she felt his hand on her waist, pulling her towards him before he hoisted her up onto the marble top surface of the island, spreading her legs so that he was standing between them.

“I’ve got an idea of what I want to eat for breakfast.”

Selina felt the heat rush to her face, something that happened so rarely that this moment was truly an anomaly. No one had ever been this bold with her. She’d always been the one to make the boldest moves, the one to be the most forward about her intentions. 

“Smooth.” She retorted, swallowing hard. 

“Well?”

“Eat your heart out.”

She let out a soft moan as he pressed his lips against her neck and sucked, one hand reaching behind her and untying the top of her bikini.

The next thing she knew, his tongue was making it’s way down her neck and to her chest, her top being discarded to the floor. 

She let out a small gasp of surprise when she felt his hand slip into her bottoms and his fingers find her clit. Selina pressed her face against his shoulder as he pulled her towards him so that her ass was practically hanging off the counter before he slipped two fingers inside of her. 

God, if only they had decided to fuck around earlier in the picture. This is what she could have been having instead of Charlie Baird and his bland ass personality. She wasn't even sure she had even liked him much. She wasn't sure she had enjoyed the sex much either after the first few times, but she had been so lonely that she was desperate for any kind of physical contact, from practically anyone. Except Gary. Never Gary.

At least she could actually talk to Tom and not be bored out of her fuckin’ mind. At least he had the balls to initiate sex.

Selina gripped his shoulders to steady herself as he fucked her with his fingers, tilting her head back as she moaned, loudly. 

“Exactly what I wanted to hear.” He responded, increasing his pace as he kissed her neck. 

“You just gonna finger fuck me on the counter or are ya gonna get to eatin’ like you alluded when I walked in.”

He pulled away from her completely and she smirked as she felt his hands on her hips and tugging at her bikini. She shifted to make it easier for him to pull them off.

“Lean back.” He responded, pushing her knees apart. She did so, using her elbows to keep herself propped up.

His mouth was warm against her pussy and she could feel the goosebumps rise at the sensation. She felt her body quiver as he slowly circled her clit with his tongue, flattening it against her to change the pressure. 

Selina let out a high pitched whimper as he hummed against her clit.

Fuck Tom and his ability to make her whimper like a fucking dog. She’d had to fake it a couple of times in the last with other guys, but if this were to continue she doubted it would ever be the case.

The man knew how to use his mouth.

She could feel her muscles clench as her breath caught in her throat at the intensity of the orgasm that was starting to build. She swallowed hard, struggling to keep herself up.

“Mother fucker!” She moaned loudly, panting as she made several more slightly shrill sounds as she came, digging her elbows into the counter as she tried to keep herself up as her body trembled with the force of her orgasm.

“Fuck.” She panted as he pulled away from her, bringing his face level with hers. 

“Thought I just did that?” He smirked planting his hand on either side of her before kissing her.

“Pretty good fucking job at it too.” She murmured against his mouth as she slid a hand into his pants. 

She wasn't surprised to find that he was already hard. 

“Ya know what one of my nicknames is? Viagra Prohibitor. Ya know how fuckin’ glad I am that you don’t need that shit? Because the answer is real fuckin’ glad.” She said as she stroked his cock. 

“Yeah, well you’re a whole nother level.”

“Good.” She responded, freeing him from the confines of his pajamas and bringing herself closer to him.

“We’ve got two options here. Either you fuck me against the counter, or you fuck me on the counter. Either way, we’re gonna be sore. We’re both a pushing senior citizen age.” She chuckled.

His hands grabbed her hips and slid her across the island before he climbed onto it, positioning himself between her legs.

“Ya read my mind.”

She gasped when he pushed into her burying her face into his shoulder as she moaned. 

It wasn’t like she had a need to be quiet. Her secret service agents were outside of the house guarding the perimeters seeing as inside she was fine. Tom was no physical threat to her. She was just accustomed to trying to stay quiet from when she was sneaking around the White House with Charlie. 

She kissed Tom’s neck, running her nails across his back, careful not to dig her claws into him as she had done so the other night. Yes, she liked to leave her mark, but she also knew how uncomfortable it would be to have fresh scratched mixed with new ones.

She would definitely leave her mark in another form.

She kissed her way up his neck to his jaw and just as she reached the space beneath his chin, she bit him.

“You’re so fucking weird.” He groaned, grabbing her ass and lifting her hips ever so slightly.

“Fucking, christ. That feels so good. Harder.” She moaned against his skin. He pulled away from her, looking down at her with the biggest shit eating grin spread across his face. 

“I know exactly what you’re thinking, and you better wipe that smug smile off your ugly ass face.” She groaned, rolling her eyes.

“I’ve got Selina Meyer, begging for more. Beautiful.”

“I’m not begging.”

“Yet.”

“Fun fact: I lost my virginity on this kitchen counter.”

\--

He had fucked her on the counter and then against the wall in her bedroom. She was pretty sure she had gotten such a vigorous workout from it that she would be okay without any exercise for the next few days. 

Selina was spread out on her bed, head resting on her arms.

“Being president fucking sucked. Not one day did I end it feeling the same way I did when I started it. It was awful. And lonely.” She whispered feeling a sort of comfort when she felt Tom’s fingers run along her bare spine. 

“I thought I’d be happy, ya know? This is my fucking dream job. And the entire time I was miserable, because I literally had to spend most of the time campaigning, and i didn’t get it because I was elected, I got it because I was fucking Veep. Then the goddamn election comes around and that fucking tie happened and then Nev-however the fuck you say it, happened and I lost the fucking popular vote. This wasn’t meant to happen this time around. But I’ll be fucking damned if I give up on this. I’m gonna run every election until I’m finally fucking elected, or I die fucking trying.”

“Well, if you want to stay relevant in the upcoming months, the current Speaker of the House should be voted out and if you were to kiss everyone’s ass for a little bit, there’s a possibility you could be elected as Speaker.” He responded as he toyed with a strand of her hair.

“Are you saying that I take up that position and then at the end of 2019, announce I’m going to run, for a third time?”

“That’s exactly, what I’m saying, Selina. You get elected Speaker, do some fucking good for the House, ya know, actually get those dumbasses to agree on something for once. Use your knowledge of the White House as an advantage. No former President has ever been Speaker.”

“That might just be the smartest thing that’s ever left your fucking mouth.”


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been sitting on my computer for almost a week now, so I figured I'd post it. It's pretty...cliche, or so I think, anyway. If anyone's still reading this little thing that I'm writing for the hell of it, thanks for sticking around! The comments and kudos are appreciated. :)

She hadn’t felt so goddamn giddy since Kent had told he that they would indeed be having a recount in Nevada.

For the first time in the last few days, she actually felt like her career wasn’t over; that there was something to salvage and the ship she had spent her entire fucking life building had not sunk yet.

“I have to call Amy!” She exclaimed suddenly, sitting up and smacking Tom on the shoulder. “Give me back my phone, no more of your new age, no media bullshit. Mama’s gotta get the ball rollin’ again!”

She couldn’t be bothered to hide her excitement.

Selina watched as he stood from her bed, pulling on his pants before exiting the room. She pulled on the nearest article of clothing – the shirt he was currently lacking – and grabbed a thong from her dresser.

“Here.”

He reentered the room and handed her the phone, his own phone in hand.

The rose gold iPhone felt almost foreign in her hand after not having had it in her possession for a little over twenty-hour hours. It wasn’t that she was constantly on her phone; she wasn’t Amy, her phone wasn’t her lifeline, she was capable of being away from it for more than ten seconds at a time, it was just that she was so used to having her phone within reach that not having had it was a little odd.

She powered on her phone, not even giving it a chance to show her any missed notifications before she was already asking Siri to call Amy.

“AMES!” She exclaimed the moment she heard the other woman’s greeting.

“I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soo – “

“Yeah, change of plans. I’m gonna run for Speaker of the House. Get everyone back together and start fuckin’ planning this victory. We gotta get the ball rolling, and get it rolling so quick that those dumbasses don’t see what him ‘em. We’ve only got nine months until they nominate a new Speaker and we gotta blindside those cocksuckers.”

“It’s unprecedented that – “

“Shut the fuck up and stop interrupting me. I know that a non-member of the House has never been elected speaker, BUT no one has attempted it in the last three decades and I’m gonna fuckin’ do it, and all of you are gonna help me make it happen. THIS,” She needed to add emphasis to the word, “is gonna be my goddamn legacy. The real start of it anyway. First, two years in the House, then another run for President in 2020. Where I’ll actually fuckin’ win that time around. No conceding to the other candidate from my party, no tie. We got Jonad elected to Congress, so this is just as fucking possible. We gotta make sure he doesn’t fuck up, by the way, and that he gets on people’s good graces by not screwing up New Hampshire too badly. We’re gonna make that Dracula looking fucker sing my praises for the next few months. I don’t give a fuck if it makes him look bad because tearing me down was what got him elected. We’re gonna have events and meetings that guarantee I get the Speaker nomination, then I’m gonna charm the fuckin’ pants off of the turds who control the popular vote while I’m speaker, and I’m gonna be the first ELECTED female President! Fuck that Montez skank. I’m pretty sure she’s not even a woman.”

“She’s not even the first female President anyway. Are you done?”

“Yes.”

“You are truly fucking insane…but I’m pretty sure we can come up with a detailed plan that’ll make this possible but we can discuss that in detail one you’re back. In the meantime, since you’re no longer living like the fucking Amish, I’m assuming you want to hear about what you’ve missed here in this shit hole we call home?”

“You know me too well.” She responded, settling up against the headboard of the bed. “I’m putting you on speaker though, so I don’t have ta repeat everything to the fucker beside me.”

“Hi, Tom.”

“Hello, Amy. How’s Dan?” He smirked, looking over at Selina.

She shoved him against the shoulder, knowing from the momentary silence on the other side of the line that Amy’s eyebrows were currently furrowed and her nose was scrunched up in that face she made when she was irritated.

“You told him!?!?”

“Well, duh. He’s my fake boyfriend.” Selina shrugged. “I gotta tell him some stuff to make it a little more realistic.”

“Yeah, stuff about you.”

“Don’t act like ya didn’t tell Dan about us.”

“I didn’t, Catherine’s video did that.”

“Anyway, what did I miss?”

There was some sort of annoyed grumble before they got a response.

“Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”

“Surprise me.”

“The flight attendant on your flight snapped a picture of you two cuddling on the plane and sold it to the Washington post. I told you guys to play it off in public, but didn’t expect you two to keep it up on the plane. Anyhow, #MeyerJames has been trending on twitter for the last twenty-four hours, not only in the U.S., but worldwide.

“What the fuck does that mean?” She asked skeptically, as Tom pulled up the trending tags on the site and showed them to here. They were indeed one of the topics.

Yes, she occasionally tweeted from her official account, but did she know the vernacular surrounding the website?

No, she fuckin’ didn’t.

“It means that the hashtag has been used so many fucking times across the board that it’s made it onto the site’s most tweeted about topics.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Not necessarily, sometimes something could be trending because it’s bad. In this case though, the reactions on social media thus far have been positive. A lot of people don’t seem surprised if we’re going to be frank about it.”

Yeah, well we had a lot of people ask when we were getting married when we were campaigning last year.” Tom commented, as he continued to scroll through his phone.

“It seems they’re very keen on the idea of the two of you as a couple. The press has attempted to reach out to those closest to you to no avail. They’ve come after Gary the hardest because they’re somehow convinced that the man who knows everything about Selina is going to give out details. He may have the mental capacity of a pre-teen, but he’s not fucking stupid.”

“I love that little shit head. Don’t tell him I said that.”

“Duly noted, Ma’am, but seeing as they failed to get a rise out of anyone close to either of you, they started going after ex-White House staff, aka the irrelevant. That intern that was fired last year who testified during the deposition, Leigh, has come forward claiming to have seen you two sneaking around in the Oval, right after you got Tom on board as your running mate. It doesn’t fit the current narrative we’ve got out that the sneaking around didn’t start until Charlie Baird was out of the picture, which by the way, he’s trying to use this to get his own fifteen minutes of fame, spewing some bullshit about how he thought the two of you were a little too close for comfort, but no one is giving him the time of day. As well received as you two were to the public, they prefer Tom over him. But back to that little cunt. She claims that the real reason she was fired was because she let it slip to someone that she suspected the two of you were having an affair.”

“What the fuck?! She didn’t even intern there for more than three months, she was in and out so fucking quickly that she wouldn’t have seen anything, had there been anything to see. Besides, she was so up Kent’s ass that there was no fucking way she could have suspected anything between anyone. She only had eyes and interest for him. Call him and get him to get his bitch under control, and to tell her that if she ever expects to get anywhere in D.C., that she better rescind that fucking statement or else she should change her fucking career of choice. Isn’t she a millennial? Isn’t she supposed to be a hardcore feminist or some shit and rooting for other women to succeed instead of sabotaging them?”

“I’ll call Kent the second we’re done here. But aside from the Leigh dilemma, there are several media outlets that would like you two to sit down for a joint interview. Anderson Cooper and GMA want to do segments, Colbert wants you on the show as well, and your absolute favorites Janet Ryland and Charlie Rose all want to speak with you.”

“Absolutely fucking not!”

“Wait. If you want to look better to the public and our peers, we’re going to have to do the interviews. Yes, it adds to the media frenzy of it all, but if you want to win the House in November, you’ve gotta get out of your comfort zone and look vulnerable in front of the public, because you know they’re gonna try and blame you for this shit because you’re the woman. Even though it’s a well-known fact that you’re divorced. Besides, we do the joint interviews, I thickly lay on the divorce shit and we play up the gimmick and you’re humanized a little more.”

“He’s got a point, Selina. The interviews would do more good than bad at this point. Not doing them would look really bad.”

“Five though? That’s fucking excessive. I’m not doing Charlie Rose. Over my dead fuckin’ body am I being interviewed by a reanimated corpse. Janet Ryland can suck my clit. You can tell her that the most she’ll get from us is a phone interview. I guess we can do the other goddamn three.”

“When are you coming back so I can start getting these booked?”

“What’s today?”

“Monday.”

“Have arrangements made so we can leave on Wednesday morning. Book ‘em for Friday, so we can fly out to New York on Thursday night.”

“Done. I’ll send you the details once everything is arranged. Call your children, please. By that I mean Catherine…and Gary. Especially Gary…he’s been blowing up my phone with the crying emoji because he misses you that much. It’s really fucking pathetic.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

Selina could sense Amy rolling her eyes over the phone.

“I’ll call ‘em.”

She had no intention of calling Gary.

“I’m hanging up now.”

Her phone beeped three times, signaling the end of the call.

“Can’t believe that mousy little brat is trying to get attention out of this.” She mumbled as she scrolled through her text messages. Lo and behold, she had at least ten messages from Gary, asking if she was sure she didn’t need him to fly down to tend to her needs.

“She’s young and stupid. She thinks it’s a power play, little does she know.”

“How about a suicide pact? I’ve got some pills and there’s booze…”

The look of concern that came across Tom’s features made her roll her eyes.

“I’m kidding. I’m not gonna fucking kill myself over this stupid shit. I’m fine. Really. It’s a joke. You’re not gonna have to put me on suicide watch or some shit. I promise. I have no genuine intent of offing myself. Maybe in three years if I lose the election again. Besides, Catherine would never be able to cope with the fact that she’d be to blame.”

His straight-faced expression didn’t budge.

“My son tried to kill himself when he came back from Afghanistan.”

“Jesus Christ, Tom. I’m sorry. I’ll stop with the suicide jokes, ya fuckin’ buzzkill.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Whatever. Anyhow, I’m going to go walk around the property, see what Catherine’s fucked up in the last few weeks, see what kind of weird animals she’s started hoarding here. You’re welcome to join if ya feel like it.”

\---

She wondered why the _fuck_ Catherine had wanted to rescue _chickens_. The only part of the property she had actually been to since arriving the previous day had been the pool area, which had been untouched by the changes Catherine had made. But next to the garage where the boat was kept, there was suddenly a goddamn chicken coop.

What was the point in saving chickens?

They were as dumb and useless as the fucking GOP.

She shook her head as she watched a rooster exit the coop, followed by several hens.

“That is the smallest cock I’ve ever seen.” She said aloud as she walked away.

“Smaller than your ex’s?” Tom retorted as he approached, his footsteps falling in tandem with hers.

“Definitely smaller than yours.” She responded, crossing her arms as she smirked at him.

The sunglasses he was wearing made him look like the damn emoji that Mike was prone to sending whenever she gave out orders in the text thread that contained her staff.

“Has Catherine always been this into animals?”

“God, yes. She was constantly bringing home strays, even as a toddler. I took her to the park once when she was four, and the little shit head befriended a bunch of squirrels and cried when I said she couldn’t take them home. It was some straight out of a Disney movie bullshit. She wanted to be a vet for the longest time. I think this sanctuary thing is to make up for the fact that we never let her have a pet growing up.”

“Why not?”

“Because pets are time consuming and Andrew was never home because he was always parading around town with the whores he was sleeping with, Catherine was always at school doing some extracurricular, and I was always at my office. It would have died. I almost got a dog back in 2012 but the First Lady at the time beat me to it and since I was still Veep then, I couldn’t out due the old hag, so the dog idea was scratched. I was relieved, cause I didn’t want the little fucker anyway, but Catherine had already gotten excited over it, so I’m sure it just added to the binder of my mothering disappointments.”

“You would have probably been a better mother if you had had a pet growing up.”

“Hey! I had a pony, thank you very much! Asshole.”

“Yeah, because a pony sure does teach you how to love something. How many times did you actually give affection to that thing? Bathe it? Feed it? Everyone knows a pony is the pet you give a spoiled brat.”

“I would’ve been a better mother if I had had a good mother myself.”

“Ah, yes. The late Catherine Eaton.”

“I don’t want Catherine to hate me like I hated Mother.”

“Catherine doesn’t hate you. Those hysterics the other day are proof of that. If she hated you, she wouldn’t have given a fuck. But she does give a fuck. That kid is truly sorry, Lina.”

“She’s always been soft.”

“You were once soft too, if I recall.”

“Thirty-five year old me would be so disappointed in fifty year old me. First female President by the fluke of being Veep, and two failed attempts at being elected President.”

“Hey, thirty-five year old me would be disappointed too.”

They stopped walking, having reached an enclosure of more farm animals.

“That little black goat over there reminds me of Jonah.”

Selina pointed her finger to a kid goat that was currently kicking over other goats of its size.

“An idiot and a bully goat. Get it? Bully? Instead of Billy?”

“You’re literally a walking dad joke.”

She rolled her eyes as he shrugged.

“When Catherine decided to start this sanctuary thing, Gary talked to her about some goddamn Llamas, and here they fucking are.”

Three Llamas had approached the fence near them, and they took a step forward. Selina watched as Tom extended a hand to one and let it sniff it, almost as if he were greeting a dog he’d just met.

“These things sure are ugly fuckers. I don’t find the appeal to them at a – “

She was cut off when one of the same ugly fuckers she was currently insulting spit in her general direction, while her mouth was open.

She gagged.

A llama had just spit in her fucking mouth.

Tom was laughing so hard that he was folded over, in tears.

“Shut up!! This isn’t fucking funny!!” She whined as she spat onto the grass for the umpteenth time. She needed to rinse her mouth out with mouthwash as soon as possible.

And maybe throw up.

“It’s really fucking funny.”

“I fucking hate you.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

\---

“Catherine, I want these animals gone within the next two weeks. I’m sure there’s a house in the area for sale that you can afford and relocate them to, but get these fucking llamas gone first.”

She was currently sitting in the living room facetiming with her daughter; Tom was fiddling around in the kitchen making dinner.

“I’m sorry it spat in your mouth, Mom. But you know they say that animals can sense a a bad – “

“I am not a bad person, Catherine!”

“I wasn’t going to say person, I was going to say attitude, but you cut me off!”

She watched as Catherine rolled her eyes.

“Catherine Selina Meyer. Do not roll your eyes at me,”

“Sorry.”

“I’m coming home on Wednesday.”

“I know, Amy told me. She said you guys are going to do some interviews and they want me to do a call in interview with CBS where I apologize for the footage tomorrow.”

“A phone call in or a video?”

“They want me at the studio in D.C. to do it with the New York correspondents.”

“You’re gonna do it, right?”

“Obviously. It’s the least I can do. I might even shed a tear or two.”

“Mommy loves you so much, did you know that?”

“Love you too, mom. I’ll talk to you when you get back, okay?”

“Good night, sweetie.”

Selina stood from the couch, pulling her sweater closer to her body as a chill ran through her. She’d have to turn the air conditioning down or the heater up. Whichever one made her less fucking cold.

She tiptoed into the kitchen, leaning against the door frame as she watched Tom toy with the settings of the oven, singing an old Sinatra tune to himself.

It was incredibly endearing to witness.

She watched him for a little while longer, chuckling when he turned around and jumped at the sight of her.

“For someone as loud as you are when you’re talking, it’s surprising to see that you’re capable of entering a room silently. How long have you been standing there?”

“Five minutes, tops. It was pretty fuckin’ cute to watch. You fiddling with the oven whole singing Sinatra. Twenty-year old me would have needed a new pair of panties at the sight.”

“That’s a little hard to believe.”

“I was a virgin until I was twenty-one. I wasn’t always this good looking. I was overweight until I went to college, where I developed an eating disorder…so let me tell you, boys weren’t giving me a second glance.”

“Wow.

“Yeah. I was kind of a loser growing up.” She shrugged.

After years of therapy, she was over the fact that she hadn’t formed any solid relationships until she was an adult.

Did she still hate her body and appearance?

No.

Did she hate who she was as a person?

Most days.

But who didn’t?

“Well, not that you need to hear it because as you’ve already stated you’re aware of it, but you do look really fucking good for your age. If I didn’t know you were in your fifties, I’d assume you were in your mid-forties.”

“Thanks. I wish I could say the same about you.”

\---

They went for a drive early the next morning. Tom had offered to reteach her how to drive since she had mentioned in passing that she had forgotten after not having had to drive herself anywhere for the last five years. They had two secret service agents tailing them.

In retrospect she probably didn’t need to relearn how to drive seeing as there would be secret service detail escorting her for the rest of her life.

“I’m pulling over.” She announced, the second it started to rain.

She wasn’t comfortable driving the fucking tank of an SUV they were in and there was no way she was going to be comfortable driving it in the rain. Torrential downpour started just as she pulled onto the shoulder of the street they were on.

“Switch seats.” Selina commanded, as she unbuckled her seat belt and gave him a shove as she started to climb into the passenger seat.

“You’re so bossy.” He responded as he pushed the door open.

The sound of rain outside was almost deafening.

She watched as he exited the car and took the seat he had currently occupied, nothing that it was taking a little too long for him to get back into the car. The rain was so thick she couldn’t even see him.

When the door to the driver’s side opened, he was soaked and was holding the sweater he had been wearing in his hands.

“Look at what I found.”

The sweater in his hand squirmed and she startled as he pulled back the fabric.

It was a puppy, small, shivering, and covered in mud.

Before she could protest, he was handing her the soaked fabric with the animal nestled inside of it.

Selina almost felt bad as she felt it shaking in her lap.

  
He was pretty fucking cute.

She wouldn’t admit it. Tom had gotten the small pup washed and they’d used her blow dryer to dry him. He had to be no more than two months old, a dark gold color with white paws and a white chest.

“He’s gotta be part Golden Retriever.” Tom commented as they sat in the middle of the living room floor, watching as the dog chewed at the corner of a throw pillow.

Selina’s mother had loved those throw pillows.

“Are ya gonna keep him?” She asked as the pup padded over to her. She cautiously extended a hand. The dog started nibbling at her fingers.

“Probably.”

“What are you gonna name ‘im?”

“He looks like a Clinton, maybe a Grant.”

She shook her head, unable to contain the smile that was spreading across her lips.

“You’re almost up there with Kent on the geekiness level. He named his cat Fibonacci. I’m surrounded by a bunch of nerds.”

“We prefer the term, intellectuals, thank you.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Thought you weren’t a dog person. He likes you.”

“Yeah, I thought I wasn’t either.” She retorted as the topic of their conversation climbed into her lap and promptly pissed on her.

She couldn’t even be bothered to be upset.

\---

The dog was settled between them on a blanket. Any time they attempted to move him out of the way, he would whine loudly and the last thing they wanted was to deal with his shrill yelps for the remainder of their flight.

“Little fucker’s already attached himself to both of us.” She flicked the puppy’s ear, tapping his nose when he yelped at her.

When the rain had stopped the previous day, they’d taken him to a vet to get some shots and then the pet store to get him some food and a collar and a leash.

Tom had insisted on getting a collar that was as patriotic as can be and she had rolled her eyes. If the dog’s collar was going to be as American as they were, the leash was going to have whatever pattern she could find that clashed with it the most. In this case it was a rainbow.

At least Catherine would feel represented when she met the dog.

“I know you’re not used to another living creature wanting to spend time with you. Take it with grace.” Tom quipped, running his hand along the top of the dog’s head.

“Hamilton.”

“What?”

“His name is Hamilton.”

“Since when?”

“Since now, I said so.”

“Why Hamilton?”

“Because it’ll get people to stop talking about that goddamn musical and something more relatable.”

“Hey, it’s a good musical.”

“Yeah? Well, that’s for me to come to find out on my own accord one day.”

She noted that Hamilton had fallen asleep and took it as an opportunity to shift him onto her lap and plop her feet into Tom’s lap.

\---

They disembarked the plane and said goodbye with a quick peck on the lips for any passersby to take note of before heading their separate ways, Tom takin the dog with him.

“Selina!”

The shrillness of Gary’s voice was not something she had missed.

“Please don’t try to hug me.” She ordered, putting a hand up as he approached her.

“How was your trip?” He asked, taking her suitcase from her.

“It was good.”

“Good! Well, if you check your email, you’ll see that Amy’s sent you the schedule for Friday, she’s got Tom cc’d on all of them. The only thing scheduled for tonight is dinner with everyone to set your plan of becoming Speaker of the House in motion. Then the flight to New York leaves tomorrow night at seven.”

“I’m gonna need you to pick up some dog supplies.”

“You’re getting a dog?”

“Kind of already got one... Tom and I are sort of sharing custody of a dog. His name’s Hamilton.”

She watched as Gary’s expression changed from one of excitement to one of disdain.

“What?” She snapped.

“Nothing.” He responded quickly, looking away.

“I’ll send you the list of supplies to get.” She retorted as he pulled open the door of the car for her.

\---

“So did you talk to Dan?” Selina asked, nudging Amy’s knee with her foot. They were currently on their way to tape the GMA segment.

“That dog really is cute.” Amy commented, changing the subject as she watched Hamilton inspect the back of the limo they were currently occupying.

“The more you ignore her, the more she’ll press. You should know that more than anyone.” Tom added.

“Well?”

“Yes, I spoke to Dan.”

“And?”

Both Selina and Tom responded, causing Amy’s face to scrunch up as they exchanged a look.

“Dan and I are…exclusive.”

Selina watched as Amy’s cheeks took on a slight blush. It was pretty fuckin cute to see her closest friend react this way about being in a relationship. Cute and simultaneously sickening.

“Listen, if he hurts you, I will have him killed. Make it clear to him that he is not to fuck with you or else he will deal with the consequences.”

“Duly noted. Catherine’s public apology on Tuesday went really well.” Amy announced, changing the subject as she handed Selina the iPad and pressed play.

Selina watched as Catherine was questioned about the video, surprised at how poised her daughter looked as she apologized for the video, shedding a few tears for show.

Maybe the hundreds of thousands of dollars Selina had spent on Catherine’s film degree were beginning to pay off.

\---

“We found him in the middle of the road during a rainstorm, covered in mud, shivering, and whining. Couldn’t turn him away. Besides, Selina’s never had a dog before.”

The screen behind them currently possessed a picture from their flight back to D.C. from Florida. Selina was asleep, said dog curled up in her lap.

“What?!” One of the anchors exclaimed so full of surprise that it took everything in her for Selina to not roll her eyes.

“It’s true.” She laughed. “I’ve never had a dog. The only pet I ever had was a pony. So I figured, why not now? A symbol to the new chapter I’m embarking in.” She grabbed Tom’s hand and looked over at him, smiling before he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

Way to pay it up for the crowd.

“What’s his name?”

“We named him Hamilton, figured we’d get people talking about something other than the musical.”

“Are you two seeing the show while you’re in town?”

“N – “

“Yes, we actually are.” Tom responded, cutting her off before she could finish her attempt at a reply. “It was a surprise, but I managed to get tickets for the both of us, along with some of our staff. After the week we’ve had, I think we all deserve a little break. Especially our staff. They’ve been working hard to keep this under control.”

There he was, turning on that fucking charm of his.

“Well, President Meyer, Senator James, thank you so much for taking the time out to talk to us this morning. I wish you two the best!”

\---

Anderson Cooper was the most charming man on Earth and Selina would not deny the fact that she was somewhat excited to talk to him. He was by far her favorite silver fox, his sexuality be damned. Not only that, but the man was quick and she knew they wouldn’t be sitting around waiting.

He had brought up Catherine’s apology interview and that had caught her off guard.

“Are you still upset with her?” He asked, sympathetically, understanding that this sort of situation could put tremendous strain on a family.

She let a beat pass before responding.

“No, I’m not upset with her anymore. My upset at her was very brief. I was very aware that this wasn’t her fault, as irresponsible as it as of her to keep the footage, I know it was a mistake. This wasn’t her intent. You know, she’s my one and only. I can’t stay mad at her for.”

They were in and out of the studio within the half hour. The man knew the value of their time and she appreciated it.

“Did you really get tickets to that fuckin’ musical?” She asked as they sat in a dressing room at the Ed Sullivan theatre waiting until it was time for them to go out there.

“Yeah, I did. Figured, when in New York.”

“For everyone?”

“Just us, Gary and Amy.”

“When are you finalizing your divorce?”

“Within the next few days. Haven’t been able to sign the papers since I haven’t been in Connecticut since shit hit the fan.”

“Ya gonna stay there?”

“I don’t think so. It’s too close to everything I’d rather be away from. I’ve got a place in Maryland.”

The segment on Colbert had to have been the cheesiest thing she had ever done for positive publicity. At one point they even had Amy bring out the dog, who was immediately gushed over by the man that was supposed to be interviewing them, but overall, the day of doing press had gone incredibly well. Even some of their peers in D.C. had reached out to them with emails for having the balls to come forward with something that was potentially a career ender.

They had fuckin’ killed it.


	7. SEVEN

 She felt her bed shift and popped open an eye in order to see who the fuck had the audacity to interrupt her beauty sleep. Selina was immediately ready to tell Gary to fuck off, because judging by the lack of light in the room, there was no way in hell that it was already seven a.m., meaning it was far too early for her to even attempt to rise.

She realized with the help of the little light coming in through the one broken panel of the Venetian blinds of the window that the intruder in her bed was none other than Catherine.

“Mommy?”

Her voice was small, quiet, and shaking slightly.

She wondered what she had done now. The attention surrounding the video has only just died down a few days prior, a whopping three weeks after the initial story broke. What bad news could she be given this time around?

Maybe Andrew had died. That would make the year thus far worth it.

“Catherine, do you know what time it is?” She groaned as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

“Marjorie and I broke up.”

Cue the hysterical sobbing.

Selina was glad it was mostly dark in her room; she knew that if Catherine had seen her roll her eyes, it would only make the sobbing even worse. She flicked on the lamp on her bedside table and looked at the time.

Four fifty-seven a.m.

Why the fuck was Catherine informing her of this, with mascara running down her face, at five in the goddamn morning?

“She s-said that she can’t handle all of the media attention and being in the p-public eye.” Catherine stuttered.

“Honey…this is all over. There’s not going to be anymore media attention surrounding you two in particular. They don’t care about you; they care about me. Call Marjorie and tell her to get over herself.” She retorted, reaching out a hand to rub Catherine’s back in an attempt to soothe her.

“She said she wants nothing to do with me, Mom. She’s really done.”

She rolled her eyes again.

The sobbing was even more insufferably loud than usual, maybe because Selina hadn’t been asleep for long before she’d been awoken. If she didn’t get Catherine’s hysterics to stop soon, there would be no point in even attempting to go back to sleep for another two hours.

“Catherine…sweetie…She doesn’t mean it. She’s stressed out and lashing out at you because she doesn’t know how to properly express her feelings. She’s going to realize the mistake she’s making and come crawling back to you on her fucking knees, just the way you like her to be and everything will be okay.”

“You really think so?” Her daughter sniffed in response, wiping at the snot dripping from her nose with the sleeve of her sweater.

“Yes, I do.” Selina responded, lying through her teeth.

In all honesty, she was tired of the constant drama that came with Catherine’s new relationship. Drama aside, the fact that everyone continued to comment on how much she and Marjorie looked alike was really beginning to fucking bug her.

“You’re welcome to stay in here with me, but please stop crying because I’ve got a long day ahead of me tomorrow and need to make sure I’m not looking like a fucking zombie in front of all these dickwads.”

She settled back into her pillows, not surprised when Catherine wrapped her arms around her torso, resting her head against her mother’s chest.

She was so fucking clingy when she was upset.

But, at least it meant that she didn’t actually hate her mother and that she wanted her there for her in times of turmoil. The last thing Selina _ever_ wanted was for Catherine to truly hate her.

She turned off the light, running her finger through Catherine’s hair until they both managed to fall asleep.

* * *

 

When Gary awoke her at seven a.m. on the dot, she groaned.

“Where’s Catherine?” She asked, noting that the space beside her was no longer occupied.

“In her room…?” Gary responded, a look of confusion coming across his features.

“That Marjorie cunt dumped her again and she snuck in here in the middle of the night to wake me up and cry about it. I had to comfort her until she fell asleep. I hadn’t done that since the night Andrew and I told her we were getting divorced.”

She sat up, grabbing her glasses from her bedside table before heading into the bathroom to start her morning routine. When she returned to her bedroom, she found Gary entering with her breakfast tray in hand.

“Apple juice, a fruit bowl, and a chocolate crepe.” He announced as he set the tray down on her bed.

Bless his little heart.

As irritating as he got at times, she knew there was no one else who would take care of her and look out for her as goddamn well as he did and she was truly glad to have him; though she was sure if she ever told him that fact, he’d instantaneously burst into tears and never let it go.

“Your meeting with Roger Furlong has been pushed back from nine a.m. to ten. Amy’s going to be here at eight to discuss your plan in detail. Once you’re done with breakfast, I’ll show you the outfits that I picked out for you today and you can choose whichever one suits your mood best, though if I do say so myself, the black Louis Vuitton is the best choice, but of course, the final discretion is all yours.”

“You’re damn fucking right it is.”

This was the new morning routine, with Gary going on and on about her plans for the day, letting her know precisely what each hour of the day would entail, seeing as Sue had jumped ship and stayed on to work for Montez. With Sue gone, it was now Gary’s responsibility.

She preferred the days that were packed with ass kissing meetings as opposed to the ones where she had literally nothing to do. Those were the days that were mostly spent with her sitting around the house in her pajamas, watching Netflix with a take-out container in hand.

She reached for her phone, not having bothered to check the notifications since having risen nearly an hour earlier.

One particular text caught her attention.

_Your turn to come here._

Since they had gone their separate ways two weeks earlier, she and Tom had decided that in order to keep up the charade of being a couple, they would spend weekends together, making sure to be seen out in public at least once. They were usually doing some mundane activity when they were sighted, like grocery shopping, or taking the dog for a walk in the park. One night they’d decided to go out to dinner, solely based on the fact that there was only so much they could do indoors before they got bored. It was never hard to spot them, there were always two or three Secret Service agents around, alerting the general public that someone important was in the vicinity.

For the last two weeks she had insisted he come out to Maryland as opposed to her going out to Connecticut to stay at his place. She had been unrelenting that he come out her because it meant that she wouldn’t need to be out of her comfort zone.

Everyone knew she did not work well outside of it.

He had already spent the night at her place before, he knew the workings of her home. But she on the other hand had never been to his house in Connecticut, and going there would mean that a whole new level of intimacy would be added to a relationship that wasn’t even supposed to be real. The intimacy was definitely going to make it look a lot more real and she was fucking terrified of what that could possibly bring.

“Gary, I need to make a personal call so if ya wouldn’t mind skedaddling out of my fuckin’ sight for the next fifteen minutes at least, it would be greatly appreciated.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He replied, exiting the room like a dog with its tail between its legs.

“I’m not coming out there again, Selina.”

The phone hadn’t even rung a second time before she heard his answer. She rolled her eyes before responding.

“Come on! There’s so much more action here than there! Being away from D.C. for more than a day makes me anxious.”

“You don’t know that there’s no action here seeing as you’ve yet to spend a weekend here. Besides, I know a few things that would keep your mind off of the anxiety.”

“I’d rather be in the comfort of my own home than a guest at yours. I’d rather be the hostess than the guest.”

“Selina Meyer, the humble hostess. Yeah, sure. Cut the shit. Let me know what time your plane will get in on Friday night and I’ll pick you up from the executive airport.”

He hung up before she could even respond.

The fact that he thought he could boss her around like that was kind of a turn on. _She_ was usually the one in charge of every relationship she had, so the fact that someone was attempting to create a shift in power was pretty fucking intriguing.

“Hey, Gary!” She called, knowing he hadn’t gone very far and was most definitely within a few feet of her bedroom door.

“Yes?” He asked, popping his head back into the room.

“I need you to arrange a flight to Connecticut for late Friday afternoon.”

“Got it.” He responded, already pulling up the necessary information on the iPad.

* * *

“You’re late.” Selina stated, matter of factually as she walked out of her closet in the black dress that Gary had recommended she wear. Most of the time he really did know what would suit her best.

“I know…I’m sorry. Dan made breakfast and we lost track of time…” Amy replied, fumbling over her words as she set her bag down and motioned for Gary to hand her the iPad.

“He made breakfast? You two living together already? Jesus. I don’t mind if you’re gonna be late because you’re getting fucked. If it makes you less wound up, get fucked for as long as you want for all I care. It’s just common courtesy to give someone a heads up when you’re going to be late.”

She smirked, watching as Amy’s face took on a deep blush.

“So the meeting with furlong is to ensure that he’s on board with helping you get the ticket for Speaker.”

“No shit, Sherlock. The question is, what’s that pervert going to want in return? Also, Gary, I’m going to need you to stay here while Amy and I are at this meeting. I need someone to keep an eye on Catherine and make sure she doesn’t try to kill herself or do anything stupid since she’s so heartbroken over what’s her face.”

“Did they break up _again?_ ” Amy asked, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, at some point between midnight and four-thirty a.m. And do me a favor, Gar, make sure she eats something. I don’t care if you have to shove it down her throat. I know I make comments about what she eats but for once let’s just forget that and let her eat whatever her little fat girl heart desires as long as she fucking eats something. I don’t need her to fall into some ugly depression because that’ll do no one any good. And it means I’d have to deal with Andrew more than I’m already willing to.”

“Might do you some good with the numbers though, there could be a significant sympathy bump if anything happens to her.”

“Thank you, Kent Jr., but as much as I want for this to happen, I’d rather keep my daughter out of this for the sake of her mental health. The last thing I need and/or want is to have her follow in my footsteps and need to be committed because of me using her issues for an advantage. I may be a terrible mother, but I’m not _that_ awful. One day, should you and Dan ever decide to procreate and bring a little fucker of your own into this world, maybe then you’ll understand.”

“I want a Supreme Court nomination.”

“You’re fucking kidding me, right?” Selina asked, raising an eyebrow at Furlong’s request.

“When you’re nominated President in 2020,” He knew exactly what he was doing by saying when she became president versus IF, “I want a Supreme Court nomination. One of those fuckers will have died by then and there will probably be a vacant seat since when the last one died, it took a hundred fucking years to appoint a replacement.”

This wasn’t what she had been expecting. She had expected him to want something bigger, like a position on her cabinet. Not a seat on the Supreme Court.

“When I give you that nomination, you better fucking be in support of whatever bills I bring to the table. Families first? That’s the first one I’m enacting. I’m not going to kill my own damn bill this time around.”

She was still bitter that she had had to trash the bill she had worked so hard to put together, to perfect, for more than a year. It was a bill that would have changed the lives of so many people for the better and she’d had to fucking get it voted against when the time came for it to be voted on.

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

“Then it sounds like we have a deal…which now we go into the details of how you are going to pitch this to other members of Congress, so that they can get their reps to back me as well.”

“By bullying them into it, what other way would I fuckin’ do it?” He retorted, raising a barely existent eyebrow in question.

“Yeah, that’s not going to work.” Amy retorted, stepping in. “We’re going for a completely different angle. If we goad them into getting what we want, it’s going to bite us in the ass.”

“What kind of fucking angle are you aiming for?”

“Kill ‘em with fucking kindness. They’ll be so shocked at how uncharacteristically polite and friendly you’re going to be that when Dan and I lobby for Selina, they’ll have no choice but to be on our side. Selina’s not very well liked, you know that. _You_ didn’t even fucking like her to begin with. We’re trying to get that opinion flipped in the next few months. You won’t be the only one kissing ass, we’re all gonna be doing it too.”

“That’s kind of the dumbest shit I have _ever_ fucking heard, but it’s dumb enough that it just might fuckin’ work.”

* * *

“Glad to see you budged.” He commented as he took her bag and kissed her cheek.

She hoped he didn’t feel the slight shiver he had sent through her body when his lips made contact with her skin. She linked arms with him as they headed towards the car awaiting them.

“I needed to get the fuck out of here. Catherine and Marjorie broke up. Again, and she’s been super clingy and it’s fucking smothering me.”

“Why’d they break up this time?”

“Because Majorie claims that she’s not able to handle the media attention, even though the media stopped giving a fuck about Catherine a week ago. The video is old news; they don’t give a flying fuck about it anymore. They’re more interested in seeing how we play out. Ames sent me an article this morning that was basically a bunch of pictures of us, spanning from when we were campaigning to the last few outings we’ve had and it’s an article analyzing our body language. According to the analysists, we’re so smitten that they’re starting to hear wedding bells. Can you fuckin’ believe that? It’ll break their poor little hearts once we call this thing off.”

Because the media would definitely be the only ones upset whenever the moment came to end their fake relationship.

Right.

As if they hadn’t started enjoying one another’s company more than either was willing to admit.

“Yeah, well seeing as it’s only…late February, if we want to keep you in everyone’s good graces, we have until November to keep this charade up. Once you’re elected Speaker of the House, that’s when we call it quits.”

“November’s a long way away.” She commented as she slid into the backseat of the car.

Not that she wouldn’t mind another eight or so months of faking it.

She wouldn’t mind it at all.

She’d had a little too much to drink.

Okay.

A little was an understatement.

She’d had more than too much to drink.

But she had been so stressed the last few weeks and Tom had made dinner (he’d made pasta again, he was always making something loaded with carbs, it was like the fucker was trying to make her fat) and they had opened more than one bottle of wine and being drunk off her ass gave her an excuse to loosen up and let the last few weeks go.

“I’m cutting you off.” He reached over and swiftly grabbed the glass of wine from her hand, downing its contents and placing it on the table.

“I was done for the night anyway.”

The difference between liquor-drunk Selina and wine-drunk Selina, was that when she was wine-drunk, she didn’t have to worry about slurry her words.

“You did good with dinner.”

“She said it slowly, in an attempt to be sensual as she clumsily climbed into his lap.

“You have such pretty fuckin’ eyes.” She mumbled as she brought a hand up to his face and ran her thumb against his cheek. “I wish I had eyes that fuckin’ beautiful. My eyes are the color of mud. As dark as my soul.”

“Yeah, well brown-eyed girls have always been my type.” He retorted, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear as his other hand found her hip.

Smooth.

“Yeah, I’ve always had a thing for the tall ones. So, you’re right on the mark.”

“That’s because you’re about as tall as a hobbit and by a standard so low, Jonah’s also right on your mark.”

She gagged.

“I’m trying to initiate something here and I’d rather not hear or think of Jon H. Ryan while I do so. Talk about a fucking mood killer.”

“You’ve had a lot to drink, Lina.”

“Whatever happens is consensual, T.” She murmured, leaning forward and kissing his neck. “I’m a consenting adult, granted, intoxicated, but that’s not the point. You’re also a consulting adult, who is just slightly less intoxicated. If this is something you’re opposed to, ya can back out now. Don’t let me being drunker than you are make anything different. It’s not gonna hurt my feelings if ya turn me down.”

“I’m not turning you down.”

“Good…cause I was lyin…it would hurt my feelings if ya turned me down.” She purred, bringing their faces so close together that their lips were almost touching. She ground her hips against his pelvis, reaching a hand between them and stroking his cock through the denim constraining him.

Tom let out a groan and she closed the gap separating them, pressing their mouths together, his tongue slipping into her mouth. She swiftly unzipped his pants as her teeth pulled at his bottom lip.

“Pull your pants down. She instructed, dropping onto the space beside him on the couch. “Don’t get used to this sight.” She smirked, settling herself between his legs once he had done as she asked.

Selina wrapped her hand around his cock, giving him a few good strokes before running her tongue against his tip. She smirked as he tilted his head back, his hand gripping the edge of the couch. She slipped him into her mouth, humming once she had fully taken him in. The moan that left his mouth assured her that he appreciated the gesture.

There was a reason one of her nicknames was a play on deep throat.

His hand slipped into her hair and she grazed her teeth against him, knowing that he would take it as a warning sign to not pull her fucking hair. There was nothing she hated more than getting her hair pulled while she was giving someone a blowjob.

She felt his hand leave her hair and felt it grip her upper arm and pull her upwards. She knew he had been close to finishing but was thankful for the interruption, because she was one hundred percent sure that if she swallowed, it would have ended in her throwing up which would have surely ruined the fucking moment.

She stood, discarding her underwear before straddling him again, feeling his cock wet against her inner thigh. His hands moved to her hips and she wrapped her arms around his neck, his mouth against her collarbone.

Tom slipped his hands up her dress to cup her ass, and she reached down between them, guiding her into him. She bit her lip as she slid down onto him, taking a second to adjust before starting to move against him. She felt his hand come up behind her and unzip her dress, pushing aside the fabric from her left shoulder and running his lips against its outline, sending a shiver down her spine.

He'd already managed to learn her soft spots.

Fucking asshole.

Selina moaned as she felt him thrust up towards her, firmly placing her hands against his chest as their pace increased. His hands moved to the hem of her dress, riding it up over her hips and she stopped him, finishing the act and pulling the dress off and throwing it aside before reaching for his shirt and tearing it open, sending the buttons across the room.

As if she was going to be the only one fully naked at the moment.

Tom’s hand slid between their bodies, his fingers pressing against her clit. She lost any focus she had and her mouth slipped away from his, her head finding itself against his shoulders.

“I’m so fucking close.”

It was high pitched and breathy and she fucking hated that he could work her into this kind of state because she wasn’t supposed to be fucking him and this fake relationship was supposed to be nothing more than a ploy to get the media on her side but here she was, knowing that this was something she wouldn’t mind having in her life for a while, that _he_ was something she wouldn’t mind having around a little longer.

He was touching her so slowly and lightly that when her orgasm finally hit her, she snapped her head back up to bring their mouths together, her lips meshing with his as she let out several moans of pleasure, gripping tightly to the back of his neck with one hand.

When they’d finished, they laid on the couch, her back to his chest as he ran a hand along her upper arm.

“It’s hard to believe you’re practically a senior citizen with that kind of fucking stamina.”

“You did do most of the work.”

“Of course I fucking did.” She replied, smugly. “How about we get off this fuckin’ couch and sober up? I don’t want to spend the weekend hungover. Don’t know about you, but I for one can’t fucking nurse them as well as I used to.”

She untangled herself from him and sat up.

“I don’t get hangovers.”

She smacked his chest in response.

“Of course you don’t. Fucking asshole.”

Selina felt the couch shift and suddenly his lips were on the back of her neck and his hands were back on her hips.”

She instinctively let out a small moan.

“T, we can go for a second round after. I’m serious about not wanting to be hungover. I can’t fucking stand the migraine and I doubt ya want to deal with me puking all night.”

She pulled away, scrunching up her nose at the fact that he was pouting.

“Don’t fucking pout, ya prick!”

She redressed and made her way to the kitchen, heading directly to the oven and pulling out their left overs. Before she even had a chance to look through the drawers to find where he kept the forks, Tom was already right there, handing her one.

“What’s the deal with you and pasta? Ya know how many goddamn carbs are in this shit?” She asked as she shoved a forkful o the lasagna into her mouth.

“Comfort food. My mom taught me how to cook when I was a kid. It was our thing. She wanted to make sure that I wasn’t one of those men who assumed a woman’s place was in the kitchen because I have my own two hands to make food for myself.”

“Smart woman.”

“Yeah, she voted for you during your first run.”

“She still alive?”

“She is, but she’s got Alzheimer’s.”

“My biggest fear in life is Alzheimer’s. Then bats. But mainly Alzheimer’s. It’s fucking awful, to not be able to remember who your family is, who _you_ are. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay. My sister and I have her in a good home. She’s taken care of.”

He paused.

“You’re afraid of bats?”

“They’re fucking weird!! And they’re blind and make high pitched sounds when they’re flying at ya.”

“You also make high pitched sounds.”

“Shut the fuck up, Tom.”

“Someone better be fucking dead or dying for me to be getting a phone call at three a.m.”

* * *

They were currently in the middle of watching some Netflix series about a vet who gave animals bionic limbs. The current case was that of a puppy whose leg was crushed by a horse. Selina was far more invested than she would have ever admitted, and she knew it was because of the dog that was currently nestled into her lap. She pulled away from Tom, careful not to wake Hamilton as she reached for her cellphone.

She squinted at the screen, trying to read the name whnen the only light in the room came from the flickering of the flat screen tv.

“It’s Catherine.” Tom commented from over her shoulder. “How blind are you?”

She ignored him, answering the call.

“Cath –”

“I know it’s the middle of the night but I couldn’t wait to tell you, Marjorie and I are engaged! We’ve decided to get married at the end of March.

Jesus Christ.

“Congratulations, honey.”

“Thanks, mom. I’ll let you go back to Tom. We can talk about it more when you’re back. Love you, mom! Good night.”

The call ended before she could even respond.

“Ya wanna be my date to Catherine’s wedding?”

* * *

When Mike had asked her to be the Godmother to his twins, she was hesitant.

Wasn’t Wendy Jewish? Did Jews give their kids Godparents?

Why her? Why not Amy, who was fifteen years younger? Did Wendy not have any suitable family members?

And the Godfather was none other than Kent. Did she really want to be tied to that robot for the rest of her life?

It wasn’t until she decided to go down to the hospital to visit that she made up her mind.

“This is Amber Wendy McLintock.” Mike introduced her to one of the newborns, placing the baby in her arms.

The second she looked down at this little girl with bright red hair and blue eyes, she had to accept. She didn’t even care what the other baby looked like, this one was going to be good looking enough for them both.

“If it weren’t for the fact that she’s a finger, I would have doubted that a kid as cute as this one could possibly be yours.”

Contrary to popular belief, she did not hate children. She actually adored them. It’s just that Catherine was _her_ child, so she had to act differently when it came to her child as opposed to other people’s kids.

“Yeah, she’s a beaut. This one takes after me. Her brother though, spitting image of his mom.”

“Well, give ‘im here.” She retorted, handing the girl to her mother.

“Introducing Mike Jr.” Kent commented as he crossed the room and shifted the boy into her arms.

Seeing Kent of all people with a baby in his arms was fucking surreal.

The look of pride on Mike’s faced at the declaration of his son’s name reminded her of when Catherine was born and she informed everyone that Catherine’s middle name was her own.

“Look at those brown eyes, shit, we sure he’s not mine?” She cooed as she brought a finger to the newborn’s lips. He used a tiny hand to grab her finger as he opened his mouth, beginning to suckle it.

It almost made her miss when Catherine was a newborn.

Before she decided that getting married on a whim to a woman she barely knew was a good idea.

Though, it could have been worse.

She could be marrying someone exactly like her father, and she deserved better than that.

“Are ya comin’ to Catherine’s wedding?”

“Catherine’s getting married?”

“Oh, shit. Yeah, I forgot to mention that. She and Marjorie got engaged over the weekend. They’re getting married in a month.”

“Yikes.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“Can I write a piece on the wedding?” Wendy asked, speaking for the first time since Selina had arrived.

“Ya can write as many as ya want. Feel free. Be warned though, there’s gonna be a LOT of acoustic guitar.”

* * *

For once in her life, Selina didn’t have a single critique of Catherine’s appearance.

“Who are you and what have you done to my mother?” Catherine asked, eyeing her suspiciously in the reflection of the mirror she was currently situated in front of.

“It is I, your beloved mother, 45th president of the United States of America, first female to have said title.” Selina responded, as she adjusted the floral crown on her daughter’s head.

“No comments about my appearance, my choices for the day?”

She looked at Catherine in the mirror, deciding that the crown looked fine on her head before sitting beside her and taking both of her hands.

“Honey, this is what’s meant to be one of the happiest days of your life. I’m not going to do what your grandmother did to me when I made the mistake of marrying your father, and criticizing every fucking moment of the day, until the end of the fucking night. You know I love you more than anything and I want you to be happy. And if this is what makes you happy, then this is what I want for you.”

“I don’t say it very often, but I love you so much, mom. Thank you for not trying to make today about you.”

“God, I’m not that much of a fuckin’ narcissist. Of course I’d let you have your day, baby. That being said, you look fucking beautiful. Can’t wait to watch your dad cry when he walks you down the aisle.”

* * *

For as much as she disliked Marjorie, Selina had come to accept the fact that her doppelganger was not a permanent fixture in her life. She made Catherine happy and ultimately, in the end that was really all she wanted for her daughter.

Tom whistled when she approached him and she rolled her eyes.

“You look…great. The cleavage is a nice touch.”

The floor length gown she wore was red, with a slit up the thigh and a V-cut that revealed what would be a little too much cleavage for anyone else her age.

“I have to remind everyone here that although my daughter is the bride, I do not have the physique of someone old enough to have a daughter get married.”

“Your ex gave me the wickedest side eye when he saw me earlier.”

She laughed.

“He’s mad that you’re here. He’s jealous that you’re the one who gets to see me naked, and he’s afraid that Catherine’s going to replace him with you, which would be an upgrade.”

“I’m a legitimate threat.”

“Or so he thinks. Now, let’s go sit through an hour of some shitty acoustic and some pseudo-poetic wedding vows.”


	8. Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I looked at the total page count for this chapter on google docs, it was 22. Yikes! It's been a month long process of writing this chapter, and I could have gone on, and on with it, but the part where it ends seemed like a very good place to end it. That being said, I've got only two chapters left to write for this story, I'm a little sad to see it go. Anyway, enjoy! :)

Things were going well for her. Exceedingly so.

She had bought out an old Colonial in midtown and turned it into their headquarters. They were currently in her office, debriefing for the night. 

Her Presidential library was scheduled to open in a week, meaning there would be an entire gala in her honor.

The meetings were starting to look as though they were beginning to sway the negative opinions of her, and the goal of achieving the Speaker of the House position was looking more and more plausible.

Everything was coming up roses.

“Ma’am, secret service says there are quite a few news cars in front of your residence.” Amy didn't even look up from her cellphone when she relayed the message to Selina.

“And why the fuck is that?” She irately responded. The last thing she wanted was to deal with press vultures on her lawn.

“I am trying to find out why exactly that is but Politico is down and google is taking too fucking long to load.”

“Perhaps there was another hack into US servers.” Kent responded from behind Selina, as he too appeared to be having issues with his service.

Selina rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, because that definitely has to do with the press on my lawn.”

“I wasn't referring to the press on your lawn but instead at the issues regarding connection to the web.”

She rolled her eyes again before responding.

“The connection to the web sucks ass because we can't get AT&T in this part of town.” 

“Got it!” Amy exclaimed suddenly. She watched as Amy’s eyes widened and her nose scrunched up in anger.

“What is it?” She asked, already knowing that whatever it was, was going to take them three steps back. “Humor me, what did Catherine do now?”

“It wasn't Catherine, ma’am...it was your ex-husband.”

“Did the fucker finally die?”

“No, it's worse than fucking dying, he's going to wish he was dead.”

“Well, out with it.”

“He leaked the tape to the public.”

Hearing this made her feel as though she had been punched in the stomach. She could feel the blood drain from her face.

“We’re spending the night here tonight.”She replied slowly.  ”Can somebody call Catherine and Tom, and get a car out to them both. In the meantime, everyone get the fuck out of my office.”

 

The second she was left alone, Selina grabbed the tea cup sitting on her desk and threw it against the wall. She was physically shaking with rage. What gave Andrew the goddamn right to do this? What did he have to gain from it? They’d been divorced for over ten years, and hadn't slept together in five. He had already caused her enough hurt and misery in her life, what made him feel as though he needed to inflict more onto her? And not only was he inflicting this on her, but Catherine as well. Selina knew that Catherine would be utterly devastated when she found out. She had always favored her father as opposed to her mother and while it irritated the hell out of Selina, she understood why. Andrew had always been the one to spoil Catherine, to buy her affection. Catherine, like her mother had been a daddy’s girl, but once she found this out, it was going to change the way she looked at her father.

At least something good would come if this mess that had arisen.

 

Tom’s car arrived before Catherine’s and Gary knocked on her office door to let her know he had arrived. She didn't even bother to turn her chair around to face the door when she responded, telling him to allow Tom access into the room. She heard the sound of footsteps on the carpet and before she knew it, there was a figure lurking in her peripheral vision. She swiveled her chair to face him before standing and greeting him with a peck on the lips, as they had both become accustomed to.

Usually they greeted one another with the kiss and then went into whatever conversation they were going to have.

This was different.

Instead of launching into conversation when they pulled away, Tom wrapped his arms around her small frame and she found herself resting her head against his chest. It was comforting to know that he managed to realize exactly what she needed at the moment, even when she herself was not fully aware of it. She was upset. She had known that Andrew was capable of being malicious, of having ill intent. He had cheated on her and paraded around his new girlfriends after they had gotten divorced. He had tried to take advantage of Catherine’s inheritance from her grandmother for his stupid hotel scheme in Brazil. Coming after Selina’s emotions was one thing, that didn't affect her. She was long over him and knew she deserved better and nothing he could say to her could ever be worse than what she’d heard from the American people and her colleagues. But coming after her career? After spending fifteen years with her and watching her build up her reputation from scratch, knowing how much it meant to her? That was a fucking blow to the gut. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” She heard him ask quietly as he rubbed her back in comfort. 

Selina broke their embrace and lead him over to the couch, motioning for him to sit before climbing into his lap, burying her face into the crook of his shoulder. The feel of his heartbeat was reassuring.

“I thought we were done with this stupid tape bullshit. It's August. It's been five goddamn months and suddenly this stupid shit is back in the media cycle because Andrew’s a low life prick who can't accept that the best thing he’ll have ever done in his life is to be the ex-husband of the first female president because he’s an idiot investor and can't make a good choice to save his fucking life.”

She exhaled, taking a deep breath before continuing.

“I mean, obviously leaking that fucking tape was a bad choice. Thankfully you and I have handled the scandal of it all pretty well and for the most part have come out unscathed sans the few articles from trashy magazines calling me a homewrecker, but Catherine hasn't been unscathed by this. She had to deal with the media calling her irresponsible and the claims that she did it because she ever got the attention she needed from me or her father as a child, making us look like bad parents. She went through the emotional turmoil of her break up with Marjorie and even though it was brief and  in the end they worked things out, she still had to go through that emotional distress. Not to mention that she’s still grieving Meemaw’s death even though it's been almost a year. I don't fucking care if he comes after me, I can fucking handle it. I'm his ex, he can come after me all he fucking wants. But coming after me in a way that directly affects Catherine? His only kid? That’s what makes me want to end that dumb fucker.”

“Do you have any idea why he would have done this?”

“Because he hates me. Because I talked to Catherine about how he was trying to rob her of millions for an investment in his stupid ass Brazilian hotel scheme. Because his new girlfriend is too fucking annoying and not as good looking as I am. Because of you and the position you were in.”

“Why would I be apart of his motives?”

“Because he’s never liked you. Even when we were working together in the Senate, he hated the fact that you and I spent so much time together even though at that specific point in time he had already been cheating on me for over a year. Stupid fucking douchebag.”

“Men can be awful.”

“Yeah, you’re fuckin’ tellin me...thanks for being one of the less awful ones. You're still awful though.” She responded, toying with one of the buttons of his shirt.

 

They were interrupted by a knock on her office door and she climbed off of his lap and dropped into the armchair across from the couch. 

 

“Catherine’s here.” Amy announced as she pushed the door open without waiting for permission to enter to room and escorted Catherine in.

“What the hell, mom? This office is so nice, why didn't you tell me you bought a house to turn into your headquarters?”

“Never mind that. I’ll show you around later, okay? In the meantime, I have something important to tell you and I'm gonna need you to sit down for it, alright?”

Selina watched as Catherine looked between her and Tom, raising an eyebrow as she occupied the armchair across from her mother.

“You two aren't getting married, are you..?”

Amy scoffed from her position near the door and when Selina narrowed her eyes, she took it as her cue to leave the room.

“Honey, it's about your dad.”

Selina watched as the blood drained from Catherine’s face.

“Oh my god, is he -”

“He’s fine, Catherine. Still alive and kickin’ for what I know.”

“Oh, okay. Then what is it?”

“I’d be able to get to that point a lot quicker if you would stop interrupting me.” She paused, waiting to see if there would be another interruption before continuing. “It was your dad who leaked the video.” 

“Dad wouldn't do that.”

“I know it's hard for you to believe...but it was him. Político broke the story about an hour ago, followed by the Times and Post.”

“Why would he do that?”

Catherine’s voice shook as she spoke and Selina knew the floodgates would open at any second.

“Cause he’s an asshole.” She replied as she stood from her seat and approached her daughter. Selina perched herself on the edge of the coffee table in front of Catherine, taking her hands into her own. “Honey, you have to realize that your dad is not a good person. He did this without thinking about the emotional strain it would put on you. He put his desire to ruin my career ahead of your needs. He didn't think about what this would do to you. It doesn't matter that you're an adult. It doesn't matter that you're married and starting a family of your own. You're still our daughter, and as your parents, it's our job to put your best interest first. Your father didn't do that. He shoved it aside for his nasty agenda. He’s a fucking prick.”

If she were someone else she would have felt bad for telling her daughter that her dad was essentially a piece of shit, but she felt no remorse at all. Catherine was old enough to recognize that her father was not a good man.

“I can't believe this…this is bullshit! How could he do that to you? How could he do that to me!?” Catherine wailed as she buried her head in her hands.

Selina looked over at Tom, who proceeded to move towards the side of the couch that was closest to them.

“Hey.” He said quietly, putting reassuring hand on Catherine’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze. “Your dad may be a colossal asshole, but this is it. After this, the tape will really be dead and gone. Any press that has to be done as damage control, we’ll do with you. A strong, united front in the face of this adversity.”

Catherine’s wailing only increased.

“It's okay honey, cry it out.” Selina responded before standing and grabbing the box of Kleenex from her desk and bringing over to her distressed child.

As tumultuous as her relationship with Catherine was at the end of the day Selina was more than willing to defend her daughter. They may not always see eye to eye but if someone stepped out of line when it came to Catherine, she was simply one step away from committing a cold blooded murder. 

There was some commotion outside of her office and she thought nothing of it, it was probably Amy and Gary arguing over whether or not he should come in and check on them. It wasn't until the ruckus grew louder and the door to her office burst open.

“I can explain.” Andrew said as he entered the room.

She could have sworn in that moment that her blood was literally boiling as she stood from her position on the coffee table and lunged at him. 

“What the fuck is there for you to explain, ya stupid fucking cumwad?” Selina growled, giving him a shove. “Ya tried to ruin my fucking career, you tried to ruin Tom’s, and you didn't even think about how this would affect Catherine. What kind of shitty father are ya,  putting your agenda above your kid’s mental health.” The end of every sentence was met with another shove.

Andrew grabbed her wrists in an attempt to stop her.

“Selina, listen to me.”

“Let go of my wrists, I don't want you touching me.” She snapped, trying to pull her wrists from his hands, only to have him tighten his grip. “I'm not fucking kidding, Andrew. Let go of me.”

She wouldn't let him know that the grip he had on her was so strong it was beginning to hurt. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

“Let go of her.” Tom said as he appeared beside her. In the midst of arguing with her ex, she’d forgotten there were other people in the room.

“Mind your own business, Tom.”

“Dad, please. Let mom go, you're hurting her.” Catherine begged from the couch, finally having been able to stop crying long enough to form an articulated sentence.

“This is my business. Let her go.”

“Or what?”

 

That was all it took for Tom to punch Andrew directly in the nose.

Catherine screamed.

Selina pulled herself away from him when his hands rose up to feel the blood ripping from his nose. No one had ever thrown a punch for her. She watched as the two men started to go at it. She knew better than to try and pull them apart, and she knew that Catherine’s scream would have Secret Service in the room in a matter of seconds. When the agents came into the room and saw the current situation, they immediately went for Andrew, knowing that Tom wasn't the person they needed to worry about being fully briefed on the current disaster Andrew had created.

“Get him the fuck out of here and don't let him back in.” Selina barked as they grabbed Andrew and one of the agents forced him into handcuffs. 

She turned to look at Catherine, who was still sitting on in the arm chair, holding her knees to her chest.

“It’ll be okay, baby.” Selina cooed as she sat beside her daughter and ran a hand through her hair. “I'm okay. He didn't hurt me. It's okay. We’re okay.”

She looked up to find Amy and Gary in the room and motioned for both of them to come forward.

“Amy, I need you to call Marjorie and tell her what happened so that she can come and make sure Catherine gets home okay, and talk her down from this.” She instructed before trying her attention back to her daughter. “Catherine, honey, go with Gary. He’s gonna make you some tea, okay?” She kissed the top of her daughter’s head before watching as she stood, taking the handkerchief Gary held out to her before the trio exited the room.

She waited a moment realizing that she was now alone in the room. She hadn't seen Tom leave the room which meant that he had to have been in her private bathroom. Selina took a deep breath to calm herself before standing.

“Your cheek is bleeding.”

He was sitting on the toilet, a hand full of bloody toilet paper crumbled in one hand as the other brought up fresh paper to the cut.

“Got me with a ring on his finger.”

She walked over to the cupboard under the sink and pulled out a first aid kit, grabbing a hand towel as she stood. She ran the sink and soaked a small portion of the towel in hot water before adding a dab of the antibacterial soap.

She approached Tom and stood before him, the towel dripping slightly onto her leather heels.

“Close your eyes. I don't want to accidentally get any soap in your eye. This shit burns like a mother fucker if you get it in the wrong place.” 

He closed his eyes and she pulled his hand away, which gave her access to viewing the severity of the wound.

It was a little longer than an inch in width, but wasn't very deep. She gently placed a hand on his face before beginning to softly clean around the wound.

“It's gonna sting.” She said softly as she carefully wiped at the cut, finding that a part of her hurt when Tom winced slightly. 

She finished up cleaning the cut, covering it with a bandage before taking his face in both her hands and kissing his forehead.

“No one’s ever thrown a punch for me.” She said as she pulled away, using her thumb to wipe the remnants of her lipstick from his skin.

“I'm pretty sure I recalled a story that broke a few years back when Catherine threw a punch for you.”

That moment had completely slipped Selina’s mind.

“A man, has never thrown a punch for me.” She responded rolling her eyes as she turned to walk away. She felt his hand on her elbow stopping her, before he gave her a gentle tug. She turned back to face him and when she was within reach, he pulled her into his lap. 

Selina watched as his hands reached for her own.

“Your wrists are starting to bruise.” He said quietly, looking her directly in the eyes as he said it. She could feel his piercing blue eyes look straight through her

“Nothing a little bit of makeup or a chunky bangle won't cover up. I’ve been through worse. Besides, I'm not out in public much anymore. I doubt anyone would even notice them before they started to heal.”

He held up one of her wrists before brushing his lips against it.

“Selina, I think we need to talk.”

 

Nobody liked to hear those words. Those words automatically put her on edge because if she had learned anything in her lifetime, it was that nothing positive ever fucking came out of ‘we need to talk’.

He must have sensed the change in her energy because his face softened, and she felt his thumb rub against the back of her hand.

“It's not something bad, so don't get worked up about anything just yet.”

“Well, what is it then?” She asked suddenly not being able to look him in the eye.

“What the fuck are we doing? What is this?” He asked, gesturing between the two of them.

“Are we just going to pretend that this hasn't gotten a lot more serious than either one of us ever intended it to be? We share a dog for fuck’s sake.”

“I don't know what this is, Tom. Maybe it has gotten more serious than we intended it to be. Maybe we’ve gotten a little too comfortable, a little too domestic…a little too real, to keep pretending that this is is just a publicity stunt.”

“It's not just a publicity stunt anymore, Selina.”

She sighed.

"You're damn right it's not.”

“So what are we going to do?”

“I'm going to wait until you say something first because you initiated this conversation.” She retorted playfully in attempts to lighten the seriousness of the conversation.

There was no way she was going to make the mistake of admitting she had any sort of inclination to him without hearing him say it about her first. She had never been the first one to say these kinds of things and she wasn't going to change that now.

“Lina, we’ve grown comfortable in our arrangement so why not make it the real thing?”

“At least we don't have to go public because the public already thinks we were really a thing.” 

“One less thing to worry about.” He responded, running his thumb against the back of her hand.

She brought a hand up to his hair, running her fingers through it.

“Come on, old man. Let’s go talk damage control with the peanut gallery.”

* * *

They decided on doing one joint interview on CNN the day after the tape fiasco resurfaced. 

Selina was quiet for a majority of the morning causing everyone to tiptoe around her, not knowing how to respond to this change of behavior. It was something out of the ordinary for her to not bark orders at her staff from the moment she arrived, but the truth is that she was just too tired to bother. Why was it that whenever things were looking up for her, something would come along and put a damper on things? Was she ever going to catch a break?

“Who are you and what have you done with the real Selina Meyer? Is this invasion of the fuckin’ body snatchers?” 

Selina looked up from the chair she currently occupied in the studio’s green room to find Dan Egan in front of her, with Amy standing beside him holding two cups of coffee, her face flushed red in irritation.

“I told you not to fucking say anything, Dan. Fuck, are you ever capable of keeping your mouth shut?”

“You didn’t want my mouth shut this morning in bed.” He responded smugly.

“Can I have my coffee?” Selina asked, turning her attention to Amy as she stood. Amy handed her one of the cups and she nodded her thanks before walking out of the room. 

 

“Did you sleep at all last night?” Tom asked when they nearly collided with one another a few doors down from the greenroom.

“Nope. Spent the entire fucking night sitting at my desk overlooking the speech drafts for next week at the opening of my library.  Went through topics to bullshit through at the benefit events for the next few weeks. Did everything and anything to keep my mind off of how shitty life is.”

“Go on a bender?”

“Everything except going on a bender. I learned from the last one, besides the fuck do i look like going on a bender with no intention of sleeping it off the night before a morning interview. Come on, man, I’m not an amateur.” 

She took a chug of her coffee.

“I could have stayed with you, you know.”

“I know, but I just wanted to wallow in self pity alone. Sometimes I’d rather not burden anyone with me and how I can get when I feel that way. I may be insufferable at times, but I’d rather not make anyone else suffer with me unless they work for me. You wanna stay tonight?”

“Do you want me to stay tonight?”

“Well, I did just ask you if you wanted to. I think that answers your question.” 

She watched as he rolled his eyes at her. She had to admit, she was being particularly difficult with him for no reason at all. She sighed.

“Yes, I would like you to stay over tonight.” She added, placing her free hand on his chest and looking up at him. “I’m tired, okay? So bare with me and my nasty ass attitude for just a few more hours.”

“I’ve seen you at attitude levels worse than this. At least you’re not threatening to kill me or telling me you wished I was dead.” He retorted, kissing the top of her head. 

“Funny how far we’ve come in the last few months.” 

“And to think it wouldn’t have happened if your ex husband had anything better to do with his free time.” 

“Well, if we make it far enough to get married, we can make sure to send him a thank you card for getting us together. That’ll really getting going.”

“We’ve literally been officially a couple for less than twenty four hours and you’re already talking about marriage.”

“Shut the fuck up, Tom.”

* * *

 

The interview had gone as well as it could have. Catherine cried on national television when she was asked about how she felt, knowing that her father had caused all of this and Selina found it hard to keep her composure as she sat beside her heartbroken daughter.  It made her want to rip what was left of  Andrew’s heart out because clearly he had no fucking use for it. Tom had done as great as he always did in these situations, he had such a good rapport with the anchor. Always so calm and collected. She appreciated that, especially when she was the opposite of calm. The fact that she hadn't slept at all the night before had made her feel wired and restless, so it was efficient for him to carry himself as he usually did. He made them all look good by acting as the supportive boyfriend and potential step father, giving Selina’s hand the occasional squeeze. When the interview had ended, they’d spoken to Catherine, making sure she was okay and letting her know that if she needed anything to just let either one of them know. 

“Senator James, your car is out front waiting for you.” Amy said as she approached them in the lobby of the studio.

“That's not going to be needed.” Selina replied, as she reached for Tom’s hand.

Amy raised an eyebrow in response, not bothering to ask and understanding what was needed of her before turning and heading outside. 

* * *

“How do you do it?” 

“Do what?”

“Charm literally everyone you meet within a matter of seconds.”

“It’s just the way I am.” 

She rolled her eyes in response.

“You gotta coach me on how to do that, even if I'm gonna be faking it. I gotta look like I actually give a fuck because whatever I was doing before didn't work.”

They were lying in her bed and she had her chin resting on his chest, his fingers running along her spine. She’d come to realize that whenever he did that, she felt herself less tense and wondered if the reason he did so was because he could feel that shift in her energy.

“Coaching Selina Meyer on how to be a people person. Sounds fucking impossible, but it's worth a try.”

“Hey, I can be a people person. I'm not always such a cunt. I can be nice, at times.”

“I've yet to witness one of these moments of being nice.”

“I haven't been as harsh on Catherine lately.”

“I guess that’s a fair example, seeing as if it had been one of your staff to be going through this kind of situation, you’d haze them to the point of a psychological break down ala Dan Egan’s.”

Selina laughed.

“I was not the cause of that colossal meltdown. That fucker had one too many Red Bulls and then got himself into a tizzy in his first few days as my campaign manager. Biggest mistake I made was giving him the position instead of Amy.”

“Are they still a thing?” 

“Yeah, they are. I'm surprised they haven't eloped yet or gotten fucking pregnant. I know they're fucking like rabbits, with the sexual tension they had and the years of denying their feelings. They've got a lot of time to make up for…”

“They seem good together. I watched them earlier in the studio, she was yelling into the phone about god knows what and he walked over, pulled the phone out of hand, looked at the screen before taking over the conversation. Whatever it was that he said to the person on the phone was what she needed to get whatever it was done because as soon as he said it, I watched her completely relax. I don't think I've ever seen Amy Brookheimer relaxed and I've been around her for a year.”

“Amy doesn't know the definition of relaxed. She can't detach herself from her phone long enough to even attempt to be relaxed. But if he hurts her, I will have him taken out. Anyway, enough about those two fuckos. Do you think we should tell our inner circle that this isn't an act anymore?” She sat up, scooting over to the top of her bed and leaning against the headboard. 

“We can do that. Or we can let them figure it out on their own and see who’s brave enough to ask you first.”

“Amy’s going to be the first one to ask. She’s the only one with the big enough balls to when it comes to prying into my personal life. I know Gary already has suspicions but he would never ask me. You know the night we first fucked? I'm pretty sure he knows about it but hasn't said a peep to a single soul.”

“Why do you say?”

“Because in Catherine’s stupid little documentary, he’s being interviewed in the room where it happened and had the couch removed to be  _ cleaned _ . Ya know how often White House furniture is cleaned? Like, once every two years.”

“Incredible.”

“Yup.”

“As we were saying. I’ll do whatever you want to do. If you want to tell them, we can tell them. If you like the idea of letting them figure it out, we can do that too. As for the public, they already think we’re together so there's no need to go public again. Though at least now we can be more...carefree about the outings. They don't have to look so staged.”

“I want them to figure it out on their own, though I would like to tell Catherine. I don't want to hide anything from her. This thing with her dad gives me an opportunity to swoop in and try and fix our fucked up relationship. I gotta start with being honest with her.”

“Look at you, already trying to be a better person.”

She rolled her eyes again before giving him a playful shove.

“Fuck off.”

* * *

“Mom, wear the red dress.” Catherine called out to her as Selina stood in her closet, examining herself in the mirror.

It was the day her Presidential Library was set to open. Though she had spent the last several days attempting to find the perfect dress for the gala that night (a black gown with lace sleeves and deep cut back) she had completely forgotten what to find something fitting for the events in the day time. 

She pulled the red dress from its hanger and slipped it on.

“Ugh.” She groaned as she attempted to reach the zipper with no avail. 

She heard the door to her room open and from the sound of Catherine’s laughter she immediately knew Tom was the one who had entered. 

Catherine had taken the news of them deciding to pursue a real relationship better than Selina had expected. It turned out Catherine was actually glad her mother was with someone who matched wits with her intellectually, and if needed, could out do her. Since then, the two had gotten along particularly well which was nice to witness seeing as Catherine had hated all of her previous boyfriends.A part of her did fear they would eventually try to tag team her.  


 

“Can you two stop fucking around and can one of you help me get the zipper of this dress up?” She yelled as she dialed her again to zip her dress up.

“I can't believe you're listening to my wardrobe suggestions. You really are trying to be better.” Catherine quipped as she walked into the closet.

Selina glared at her daughter as they stood in front of the mirror and Catherine zipped up the back of her dress.

“The dress really does look good on you, mom. Regardless of whether or not I suggested it, i really do think that's the one you should wear today.” 

She looked at her reflection up and down in the mirror. Catherine was surprisingly right. The dress did look spectacularly well on her.

“You got me. I’ll wear this. Now, so you know where my phone is? I need to tell Gary to bring some Starbucks when he gets here.”

“I’ll text him. Do you want your usual?”

“Nah, fuck that. See if the S'mores frappuccino is still in season. If not then ask for my regular. Be sure to get something for yourself if you want and ask the beanstalk sitting on my bed if he wants anything.”

“I can't have dairy mom, it's an animal product. I'm still a vegan, remember?”

“Catherine, coconut milk is a fucking thing that exists, honey.” Selina responded rolling her eyes as she looked through her shoe collection to find the pair of red heels that corresponded best with the dress. She heard Catherine mutter something before walking out of the closet.

 

She stared at the several pairs of red heels she owned unable to make a decision. 

“Hey, T? Can you come in here for a second?” She called out, crossing her arms as she waited for him to enter.

“You rang?” He replied as he reached her side.

“Since you have such a fascination with my shoes, I need a pair that goes well with this dress. So go ahead, pick your poison.”

She watched as his brows furrowed together in thought as he looked down at the row of shoes before them. She had at least five different pairs of red heels, all ranging from kitten heels to six inch pumps. Tom reached down and grabbed a pair of her feels before taking them out of the room, she followed suit wondering where the fuck he was going with her shoes.

“Needed better lighting.” He responded as he examined the coloring of the heels in the light shining through her window.

“You're so fucking weird.” She responded, shaking her head. He turned to look at her and gave her the once over before motioning for her to sit. Selina sat at the edge of her bed, legs crossed as she waited for his next move.

He got down into one knee and slipped one of the shoes into her foot before gingerly lifting her other foot and doing the same.

Her very own Cinderella moment.

How ridiculously fucking cheesy.

“What is the origin of your shoe fetish?”

“I don't have a fetish. No one ever wears green shoes. It was a bold choice. Plus you whined so damn much that night that I was about to offer to give you a piggy back ride to get you to shut the fuck up about how much your feet hurt.”

“I did not whine!”

“Yeah, you did. About how much your corns hurt.”

“You know damn well they were blisters.” She responded, giving his shoulder a push with her freshly heeled foot.

“Same thing. The point is, the shoes stood out. That's why I remembered them.”

“And the comment about me having nice shoes after cunt face’s inauguration?”

“Did it to fuck with you, of course.”

“Asshole.”

* * *

A part of her had thought she would never get to see this day. The fact that some were opposed to a library being built in her honor almost put a stopper on it before a single line could have been drawn on the blueprint. But it was decided that she was the first goddamn female president, of course they were going to build her a fucking library in her home state. If they hadn't, she would have raised hell.

She would have been lying to herself if she didn't admit the fact that when she made her brief speech at the opening of her library, her eyes had welled with tears. And even if she did deny the fact, there were several thousand pictures proving otherwise. Everything had been going so wrong in the last week that the fact that the morning had gone off without a hitch made her overcome with emotion. At least she was having  _ one  _ good day.

“Please don't wear a bow tie.”

She looked at him in the mirror of her vanity as he adjusted his collar around the tie.

“You made it a Black tie event, Selina.”

“Yeah, and I’m telling you not to wear a tie.” She responded as she stood and approached him. “I think since it's my event…” She reached for the tie and pulled it away from him, flinging it across the room before wrapping her arms around his neck.“What I say goes. Don't wear a tie at all, okay?” She  kissed him, slipping her tongue into his mouth for a brief moment before pulling away. “And keep that first button on your shirt undone.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Don't ever call me ma’am again. It was okay when weren't fucking now it's just weird.”

She pulled away from him just as Amy entered the room with her glam squad in tow.

“I’ll be waiting downstairs.” Tom responded, kissing her cheek before exiting the room.

“Alright, you three have an hour to get her ready. Extensions, makeup, and at least five minutes of pictures once she’s ready to post on social media. One of you might as well take some photos of the prep too because I know PEOPLE’s going to want to buy them. Car’s set to be here in an hour and a half.” Amy directed as Selina resumed her spot a her vanity. 

Thank God she had Amy to take the reigns for things that were far too small for her attention.

* * *

She came down the stairs and the first thing she heard was a whistle. She rolled her eyes, unable to hide the smile that was forming across her lips.

“Well aren't you a fucking stunner.” Tom said as he grabbed her hand and gave her spin. She knew that the black gown she was wearing with the lace sleeves and the lace side panel was a good choice. It made her feel good about herself.

“Holy shit, mom. This is the best dress you've ever worn.” Catherine added.

“We need to take a few pictures before we go.” Amy commanded as she thrust her iPhone at Gary so that he could take that responsibility. “Can we get a few of the three of you first since you're all standing there already. Fake looking like a family for a few seconds. Catherine, where’s Marjorie?”

“I'm here.” Marjorie piped up from the corner of the room. No one had even realized she was there.

“Well then, get in here. You're family.” Selina said as she waved her over.

Marjorie joined the group and wrapped an arm around Catherine. Tom wrapped his arm around Selina’s waist as she wrapped an arm around him and the other around Catherine. Catherine leaned her head against her mother’s as Tom kissed the top of Selina’s head. 

She smiled widely. 

Did she care that it would make her look toothy? 

No, she fucking didn't. She was genuinely content and that's what mattered. She knew the picture had to look ridiculously fucking cheesy, but the press would love it. 

Next she and Catherine took several pictures together, Catherine kissing her mother’s cheek for one of them.

“Mom, I’m really glad we’re in a better place.” Catherine said softly as she hugged her.

“Me too, honey.”

When she took her photos with Tom, she missed his cheek in one, her hand resting against his chest as she did so. For another, she leaned her head against his shoulder, highlighting the significant height difference between the two, even when she was in four inch heels.

“Ames, stop directing everyone and come here and take a picture with me.”

“It's okay, ma’am.”

Selina raised an eyebrow.

“Get your ass over here and take this fucking picture with me, Amy.”

She watched as Amy reluctantly approached her, straightening herself out as she joined her side. 

“This day would have never happened without you.” Selina said as she pulled Amy against her side and placed a hand on her hip.

“Don't know where I’d be without ya.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! :)


	9. NINE

“Ma’am, are you seeing Tom James?”

Gary sputtered on his coffee and Selina shifted away from him to avoid getting any spittle on her coat.

“Honestly Amy, I though you would never fucking ask.”

They were sitting opposite one another in the back of a limo as they made their way to one of the final fundraisers before the vote for Speaker of the House took place in the upcoming two weeks. Her party had yet to nominate her, or anyone for that matter as their candidate, which would mean she would have to wait until the day of the vote to see how well she fared. It was stressing her the fuck out.

“So, it’s safe to assume that’s a yes…”

“Yes, Amy. Tom and I are for lack of better words, seeing one another.”

“So the last eight and a half months haven’t just been a show for the public?

Selina took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself to launch into the story.

“More like the last two months. At first it was a ploy, you know that. You were a part of the conniving team that came up with it. You already know, we fucked the night of the Inaugural Ball and then the tape situation went down the next morning, hence the cover up. Then we got a goddamn dog and all the spending time together on a weekly basis turned into consensually fucking one another on a regular basis, which lead to sharing intimate details of our lives and all that fun shit. The weekends together were like, I don’t know, little dates. We got to talking about things, ya know? Then the video became an issue again and the Andrew situation arose. Tom and I realized that we were a little too comfortable with each other to keep pretending it wasn’t beginning to mean something.”

“Are you in love with him? Hearing wedding bells soon? Am I going to have to start looking at the upcoming two years and finding where to pencil in your nuptials?” The younger woman teased.

“Shut the fuck up, Ames. You and Dan would get married sooner than we would ever even talk about it. If I didn’t rely on you so much, I’d fire you. No, I’m not in love with him, it’s literally been a month and a half. I was with Ted for almost a year and I don’t think I really liked him for anything other than the sex. Do you really think I’m wooed that easily?”

“No, but I think he’s in love with you.”

“Yeah, and if he is, God bless the poor bastard’s soul because he’s going to deserve a Nobel Peace Prize if he willingly puts up with me for longer than a few months. God forbid he pops the question.”

“He won’t be at the fundraiser this morning, by the way ma’am.” Gary interjected from beside her.

“No shit, Sherlock. I’m very aware of the fact that my lover is skipping out on this thing. We do keep tabs on one another, ya know. I don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve been in a relationship with someone other than your hand but it’s something couples do. He’s in CT visiting Ryan. He’ll be back tonight and he’ll stick around until after the vote.”

It was odd to refer to Tom’s son by his first name. She hadn’t even fucking seen him in years and she already knew so much about him. Tom had insisted on telling her all about his kid and she let him seeing as he got along so well with Catherine.

It was only fair.

When they were both Senators and spending a lot of time together, their kids had actually gone to school with one another. Politicians usually sent their kids to the same school in order to make it easier to keep tabs on them especially because they wanted to ensure their children weren’t getting into any trouble that would bring attention to their parents. The few times there had been kid friendly work events, Catherine and Ryan would entertain one another as their parents mingled with their colleagues.

Her phone went off and she answered it without checking who it was.

“I’m just calling to tell you to kick some ass at that fundraiser tonight. Grab those fuckers by the sack and pull if you have to.”

“I was just talking about you. How’s your kid?”

“He’s good. He’s starting up a new physical therapy routine next week to see if he’ll be able to walk again. I’ll spare you the details until later tonight.”

“I’ll be sure to remember your socializing tips and charm their fucking pants off. Not literally though, because I’m only interested in seeing one person with his pants off.” She added the last bit knowing that both Amy and Gary would react in one way or another. She was right when Gary gagged in response and Amy murmured the word ‘ew’.

“Alright, I’ll let you go. See you tonight.”

* * *

“What the ever-living fuck happened to your head?” Selina asked as Jonah approached them. She was currently checking in with Amy, Kent, and Ben on how she was faring thus far. The last time she had seen him he had had a full head of hair, now he was sporting a buzzcut. It was not a look that he should have ever contemplated.

“It’s a haircut.”

“It’s a goddamn motherfucking travesty. You look like Count Chocula. Richard, you let him do this? You couldn’t keep him wrangled long enough to keep a proper image up?”

“No Ma’am. What had happened was that Congressman Ryan’s usual barber was out of town so he had to entrust one of the other barbers…”

Amy burst out laughing beside her.

“God, how stupid can you fucking be, Jonah? You couldn’t have waited another few days until your barber came back?” Amy commented in between chuckles.

“I was in a rush, for fuck’s sake. It’s just hair, it’ll grow back.”

“Yeah, it will grow back in some patchy ass way.” Dan added as he joined the circle, wrapping an arm around Amy’s waist.

“So Jonah, what’s it looking like, ya know for the vote? You think I’ve got a chance at this?” Selina asked, brushing everyone off as she approached the subject that truly mattered.

“Surprisingly…yes. As disliked as you were as president by the opposing side, to them you’re the lesser evil than the fuckwad who has stepped down from the position and they’re ready to betray their own party to give you the House because they know they don’t have anyone who would be able to handle the position well.”

“Damn right they fucking don’t.”

“Funny how the same people who got me elected to Congress are also going to get you elected as Speaker of the House but couldn’t manage to get you elected as President.”

Everyone within the inner circle rolled their eyes.

“Really, you dickwad?” Ben groaned.

“That’s because the people of New Hampshire are too imbecilic for their own good and elected you, whom they didn’t have the slightest clue of you existence until you ran against the widow Shermann, and as the numbers have been proven to show, voters tend to rally behind the younger of the two evils. Had they any sense, she would have won. Need you be reminded that the only reason you were running was to help us elect Selina, in which you failed as well. Do not try to salve yourself from those results. It was just as much a fail on your part as it was to anyone else here.”

Selina had never felt more appreciative for Kent’s existence than she had in that current moment.

“That’s Kent speak for ‘go fuck yourself’, ya dumb prick.”

* * *

 

“Amy, do you think I stand a chance in this?”

“I really don’t know, Selina. Kent’s said your rating have improved significantly with current members of the House and Jonah mentioned earlier the Republican party is fed up with their own damn party, so they’re ready to be treasonous to their own party.”

“This job is literally below being the fucking Veep. What the fuck am I doing? Why am I doing this?”

The closer they got to the day of the election, the more Selina was beginning to doubt whether or not this was a good idea. She knew the odds were stacked against her because of how disliked she was among her peers and the fact that it was seeming like they were so willing to throw that disdain aside to give her this position was suspicious to her. There had to be something at play here that would come back and bite her in the ass if she became Speaker.

“It may be below Veep, but let’s face it. It’s the only option you’ve got. It was this or spend a whole year doing nothing that is politically relevant and basically fucking dying out until the midterms next year and running for a seat in the House, or running for Senate again. At least with this position, you’ll still be higher up. And if Montez and her Veep die, you’re the president and get to serve out the remainder of her term. So if you get elected and they both end up miraculously dying soon, you get at least three years of being President. If you do well and run in 2020, you can get elected, then re-elected in 2024, and by the end of your second term you’ll have been president for twelve years, eleven of them uninterrupted. Making you the second longest sitting President since Roosevelt. That would be the greater part of your legacy. We both know you’re too much of a political animal to be away from D.C. for too long. You’d go fucking insane.”

“But what if I – “

“No fucking buts, Ma’am. If you lose, you lose. When have you ever let a loss tear you down? You get back up every time you’ve been fucked over and come out stronger, even if it means you have to be committed for a bit to get your bearings together. If you lose, you’ll be okay. You’ve never not been okay. We’ll find something to keep you busy until you decide what the fuck you want your next move to be. I initially thought this idea was insane, but I’ve spent the last eight months working on this and I’ll be fucking damned if this is the end of us.”

“Ya know, you’ve got some pretty big balls to speak to me like that. I respect the fuck out of ya for that. You’re the only one who can ever seem to find the words to snap me out of whatever bullshit self-doubt induced meltdown I start to spew out.”

“That’s what I’m here for, Ma’am. To put you in your fucking place before you have another mental breakdown again.”

* * *

 

She was tired of these fucking fundraisers. Especially because of the fact that they were now being hosted at her headquarters. They were the only thing she hated most about being in politics. The closer it got to the day of the vote, the more these things began to wear at her patience.

“I don’t mean to interrupt the riveting conversation currently happening, but I do need to steal Selina way for a few minutes.” Tom announced as he appeared at her side, placing a hand on her elbow.

“Excuse me, Congressman. I’ll try to come back as soon as possible.” She smiled at the group of men as she excused herself, thankful for the interruption.

Tom led her out of the semi crowded living room of the building, up the stairs and into her office locking the door as he shut it behind them.

“What?” She asked as he looked down at her.

“You looked tense and I thought of a way to help you relax.” He responded, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her against him, his mouth moving to her neck.

“A quickie? What are we, teenagers?” She mused, letting out a small moan as he sucked her neck.

“We’ve got the stamina for it, so why not?” He asked as she felt his hands slide down to brace her thighs as he lifted her, wrapping her legs around him as he carried her over to her desk. She kicked off her shoes.

Selina reached for the buckle of his pants, pulling his hips toward her as she swiftly unbuckled them.

“I really hope you have a condom, because I will kill you if you fucking cum on my dress.”

“I know better than to cum on designer clothing while at an event. But of course I have a condom. Not that we need it anyway.” He responded, pulling out the item in question and ripping the wrapper with his teeth.

“We definitely need it because as hard as it is to believe, I’ve not yet completely gone through menopause and I forgot to take my birth control this morning.” She responded, taking the condom from him and slipping her hand into his boxers. She ran her fingers along his length just long enough for him to get as erect as she needed to slip the condom onto him.

He reached for her, slipping a hand beneath her dress and pulling at her panty hose.

“Do not fucking rip those!” She hissed, bringing their mouths together as his other hand slid into her dress and she shifted to allow him to slide them down as well as her thong.

She bit her lip to keep quiet, leaning her forehead against his as he slid into her, taking a moment to allow them both to adjust before picking up a slow rhythm. He let out a quiet grunt as he thrust into her, his hands on her hips as she wrapped her legs around him, keeping him as close to her as possible.

“Fuck.” She breathily murmured into his ear as she felt her body begin to tense.

It was a sign of how stressed she was that she was already so close to orgasm after having basically just started.

“Don’t hold back.” He responded as he brought his mouth to her jaw, causing her to let out a small whine. Selina used a hand to bring his face up to hers, brushing her thumb against his lips before bringing their lips together.

Tom’s fingers found her clit and she moaned into his mouth, her teeth pulling at his lower lip. She could feel how close she was as he increased the speed of his thrusts as his fingers slowed against her clit.

Her orgasm was so strong that when it hit her she had to pull away from his mouth completely in fear of biting down into his lip hard enough to break skin. She buried her face into his neck in attempts to muffle the sound of her moans.

When she was finally able to regain her composure, he pulled away from her, discarding the condom and adjusting himself before handing her underwear over.

“Did you finish?” She asked as she slid her underwear back on and hopped off her desk, looking around for where her shoes had fallen.

“Nope. My intent was to get you off and less tense, not get myself off.”

She was truly touched, even though she found the reason she was touched as fucking weird. She had never had someone fuck her with the sole purpose of getting her to release and not themselves in the process.

“That’s oddly…sweet.” She responded, taking a moment to clear her throat before approaching him and giving him a peck on the lips. “I’ll make it up to ya tonight.” She finished, patting his cheek.

“Selina, please – “

“What kind of man turns down a free orgasm? Not one who’s dating Selina Meyer, for one because he’d be smart to know these are rare opportunities.”

“You don’t have to make it up to me. Sometimes you give and expect nothing in return. This is one of those times.”

“Are ya sure?” She asked, furrowing her brow.

He was a completely different species from the men she had previously been with, how different he was was truly beginning to show. Who knew that for such a conniving fucker, he had such a soft side to him?

“Yeah, I’m sure. Now get back out there and kick some ass.” He retorted, unlocking her door and pulling it open.

“You mean kiss some ass.” She rolled her eyes as she exited the room, almost colliding with one of her secret service agents. “You fucking serious?” She groaned, realizing they were probably outside the door the entire time. “Whatever, hope ya like what ya heard. May you get your rocks off to it.”

* * *

 

Her phone went off, blaring loudly on the other side of the bed, waking her up with a jolt. Hesitantly, Selina lifted her head off of Tom’s chest, wiping the drool from her chin before pushing some hair out of her face and tapping him awake.

“Pass me my phone.”

“You woke me up because you’re too fucking lazy to extend your arm out and get it yourself?” He responded, feeling around the nightstand before passing her the phone. “It’s Amy.” He added, knowing that she was as blind as a bat, even more so after just having woken up.

“It’s two in the goddamn –“

“Doyle’s dead. Heart attack.”

“No fucking way.” She gasped, quickly shooting up and smacking Tom’s chest to get him back up.

“CNN just broke the story.”

“Turn on CNN.” She told Tom as he sat up and turned on the lamp before clicking on the tv.

“Ames, we’ll release a statement or make a comment in the morning, thanks for keeping me up to tabs.” Selina finished before disconnecting the call.

“What’s going on?” Tom asked groggily as he turned to face her. She brought a hand p to his face in attempts to smooth out the crease in it from the lining of his pillow case just as the tv caught their attention.

_ “Breaking: We have been informed via the White House that former Vice President and current Secretary of State, Andrew Doyle has suffered a massive heart attack and was pronounced dead at one forty-five a.m. He was seventy-two years old. The White House Press Room will be live momentarily.” _

“Holy shit.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“You’re gonna play it up for the press, right?”

“Of course I am, and not only for the press but for the fucking vote too. If they can see me shed a few tears over that fucker after he royally screwed us over, they’ll really think I’m a different person and really want to put me back in power.” She smirked, turning off the tv and nestling back beside him.

“Heartless.”

“They call me Lady MacBeth for a goddamn reason.”

* * *

For some god forsaken reason, the widow Doyle had asked Selina to make a brief comment about her late husband at his funeral.

The only upside to this was that Selina knew for a fact that it wouldn’t go as horrendously as the last time she had attended a funeral, said funeral being her own mother’s. She did find it a little unsettling that almost exactly a year later she was up behind a podium in a church full of people, yet again.

“Andrew was a good Veep and great Speaker of the House before that. I always had an ally when I had him on my side. He was a wonderful speaker, a goddamn great policy maker, and an even better confidant.” She hastily wiped at her eyes and sniffled in attempt to garner some sort of sympathy. “He will be truly missed.” She finished before stepping down from the podium and reclaiming her vacant spot in one of the pews.

“Was it believable?” She whispered quietly to Amy who was seated directly behind her.

“Absofuckinglutely...now can we please blow this fucking popsicle stand? I really don't want to run into Furlong, or worse, Danny Chung. The vote is in less than a week, we have more important things to do now.”

“Amy do you have any fuckin idea how bad it would look if I left my former veep’s funeral early? Calm the fuck down, we’ll be okay for another half hour.” Selina scoldingly hissed, turning her attention back to the current Speaker at the podium. She rolled her eyes when she realized it was Montez.

“Actually Ames, let's go. I'm not listening to this cunt brag about this asshole for fifteen minutes.”

“Oh, thank god.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we've reached the end of this story. Thanks for sticking around! After the latest episode, I'm definitely going to write something else involving these two, there's no way for me not to. Especially with how much material was given to us in that Red Room scene. Just wow. Enjoy and don't forget to leave a comment!

She had a thing for his hands.

Whenever it was just the two of them alone together or when they were with people who they felt comfortable enough around to allow themselves the luxury of being somewhat domestic, she always felt as though she needed one of his hands on her. She had learned that about herself the last few weeks, that his touch brought her comfort and a feeling of safety, something she had never felt with anyone previously before. Aside from that, she just really enjoyed the feeling of his hand against hers. They were twice the size of hers but they were warm and she liked the way he always ran his thumb against hers. Besides, everyone else she’d ever been with had hands that weren't much bigger than her own. Her hand just fit so right against his.

She had never been a big hand holder and now here she was.

A typical, smitten woman. It was kind of fucking disgusting to her but she hadn't been in a decent relationship for over a goddamn decade.

It made her feel sort of...giddy.

Things with Todd had been serious but the moment things got a little too real, he couldn't handle the heat and she had to dump him. If he couldn't handle knocking her up and having to put up a front to make it look planned, there was no future there. Then there had been Ray…who had been nothing more than a casual fling. He was her trainer and always around so he was a convenient fuck. It didn't really matter to her that he had been hired on specifically to have someone for her to sleep with and essentially keep her out of trouble. But Ray was too fucking dumb for her tastes and the novelty wore off. Her fucked up relationship with Andrew couldn't be considered anything. She only fucked him when she was single because well, she was a woman with needs. She could only go without a good lay for so long before she got desperate and Andrew was always around when that point hit. Finally there had been Charlie. They had hit it off really well but all they did was fuck. There was no attachment there and the fucker dumped her the moment she decided not to bail out his stupid fucking bank.

 

At least in her current situation, even though they had gotten together under some fucking ridiculous circumstances and even though any sane woman wouldn't be sleeping with the guy who had a major part in sabotaging her career, she knew that when they shoved the circumstances aside, they did have things in common, they did get along well. The fact that they had known each other for so long played into the rapport they had with one another. There was a reason that her staff had begun to think they were sleeping together from the start - they were just comfortable with one another. They knew how the other ticked, which meant knowing exactly how to get under their skin but also how to talk them down. Granted, Selina was the more aggressive of the two so the only time she had to talk Tom down from anything was after he had punched Andrew, but nonetheless when it came to talking her down from a meltdown, he knew just how to do it.

Besides, she just really loved having someone to watch old movies with as opposed to watching Netflix in bed alone and she had a dog now, so that was nice. If she had known how devoted they were to their masters, she would have gotten one years ago. They were currently laying on the couch watching _Singing In The Rain_ , her back to his chest and one of his arms wrapped around her front. She had a hand over his, using the other hand to keep herself propped up. Selina was pretty sure he was asleep. She turned her head to look over at him and verified that he was indeed a sleep. She rolled her eyes before taking a hand and shaking the bottom of his jaw.

 

“Hey fuck face, wake up we need to talk.”

He groaned and she felt his grip on her waist tighten as he pulled her against him, burying his face into her shoulder.

“Talk.” He mumbled.

 

Selina took a deep breath before continuing.

 

“Are you prepared for the meltdown of epic proportions I might fucking have should I not be elected speaker? Like, are you aware that I might need to be committed to Betty Ford or some other fucking institution again if I have another meltdown as bad as the one I had when I first lost the run for senate? Cause that's a possibility because I'm fucking crazy.”

“I am aware. Don't worry, if you get committed again i’ll come visit whenever they let me, but trust me, i’ll be damned if you get committed again without me trying to provide you some sort of fucking comfort first. A spa as you like to refer to it should only be the last option if getting away from here for a few days afterwards doesn't help.”

 “So you're not gonna dump my crazy ass if I go mental?”

“Selina...you cried more at your mother’s funeral over losing the popular vote than over losing your mother. You're in a relationship with the man who with  fucked your chances of being president, granted Montez and Doyle were also getting abstentions behind MY back, but you being insane was a part of the deal.  I already knew you were fucking crazy.” He responded, planting a kiss on her shoulder.

“Good, because I’d have to kill ya if you tried to dump me. The only one ending this thing is me.”

“Anything else you want to talk about before I go back to sleep?”

 

She paused for a moment before responding.

 

“Is that a serious inquiry because there's a shit ton of stuff I’d like to get off my chest.”

 

She felt him tap her side and she sat up, allowing him to do the same.

“Have at it.” He replied.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

 

She was truly surprised that he was willing to give up sleep to let her vent. That was real loyalty. She pulled her legs up onto the couch and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees.

 

“I'm not a bad person. Yeah, I can be a bit of a cunt and I'm not afraid of speaking my mind but I'm just trying to make this country better for those who need it most. Women, children, ya know? I've spent my entire career trying to be their fucking champion and I've gotten jack shit in return.  And yeah, the election was a year ago but it still really fucking sucks that I've spent my entire life working in public service to be let down like that, mainly because I'm a fucking woman. And then, I get named the 43rd worst president? How the fuck is that fair when I was in office for a year and was cleaning up the fucking mess that was dropped on me before that fucker Hughes resigned while trying to campaign? How is any of this fair? I have to stress about what to do next about my fucking career to the point that I’m gunning for a position worse than VP? A fucking figurehead that really gets nothing done.”

“If you don't want to do this anymore, no one’s forcing you.”

“Of course I want to do this. I'm not going to commit political suicide by disappearing until the next election. I get this speaker position and then for the next two years this will keep me busy until I can run again. And I’ll be fucking damned if I lose again. I’m going to get elected president even if it fucking kills me. That one year wasn't enough. They don't know how much change would have gotten done if they hadn't fucked up last year.”

“You're not a bad person. You just have to be more strategic next time. Let them see the good in you as opposed to the hardened side of you. That's what got ya. You were too fucking...cold, for lack of better words. You didn't come off as human enough for them to want to vote for you. That's why they took to me more than they did you. You weren't seen a amicable enough. Soften your imagine a bit over the next few years and I guarantee you’ll do better than the last time.Then when you get elected, that's when you go back to your stone cold demeanor. You’ve got to trick them into it.”

“Yeah, well remind me to bring up the press we did earlier in the year where I shed a few tears when it's time for me to campaign for the presidency again. Hell, if we’re still a thing, we might as well get married while campaigning too to bump the numbers.”

“You've been talking to Kent too much.”

She laughed, feeling a sense of relief after getting that off of her chest.

“Come on, let's go to bed.” She replied, grabbing his hand and pulling him off the couch.

* * *

“Dan and I are talking about moving in together.”

Selina sputtered on her coffee, grabbing a napkin to wipe at her chin as she glanced at Tom, who was leaning against the kitchen sink. She honestly could not believe the words that were leaving Amy’s mouth.

“Has either one of you ever even lived with a significant other?”

“Nope.” Amy responded as she scribbled something on the iPad before showing it to Gary, who nodded in response. Selina raised an eyebrow, not bothering to ask. If it was meant for her, she’d know it soon enough.

“Two adults in their thirties, who have never lived with an SO...yikes. I didn't even know Dan was ever willing to settle down.”

“It's just cohabiting…It’ll just make things easier for us to see each other because we’ll be coming home to one another.”

“That’s oddly...sweet.” Tom commented as he drank is coffee. “Though, I wasn't aware either one of you felt emotions other than anger or glee at the suffering of others.”

“Fuck off, Tom. You two are already practically married at this point. You share a fucking dog, that's one step away from adopting a baby from Honduras.”

Just as she finished speaking, Hamilton padded into the room approaching her directly and placing his paws on her lap before licking her face.

“Ugh.” Amy groaned, reaching for a napkin.

“He’s fond of you Ames, appreciate it.” Selina responded, snapping her fingers to get the dog’s attention. “Who’s a good boy?” She asked as she ran her hand along his soft fur.

“Well, he does love his bitches.” Tom quipped.

 

She picked up a roll of bread from the table and lodged it at him. It hit him square in the shoulder.

 

“Don't you have some hedge fund people to fluff up to get on board with your banking venture?” She asked, glaring at him.

 “I do. But I figured I would stick around for a bit first, mingle, be polite, ya know that thing you're gonna have to start doing with everyone to get them to back you when you run again.”

 “Well, you've been polite enough, go fluff ‘em and fuck ‘em!” Selina enthused, causing both Gary and Amy to groan in response.

 “Fine, I’ll go.” Tom responded as he approached her, leaning and giving her a quick peck on the lips. “Don't stress too much today, save it for the vote tomorrow.”

 "Ugh.”

 “Are you happy, ma’am?” Amy asked once Tom had disappeared from earshot.

 “Is anyone ever really happy?”

 “Simple yes or no question.”

 “Yeah, I am happy. I like him...a lot and he likes me even more...he’s good to me, ya know and before ya fucking start, I'm just as surprised. Shit, it's just nice to have someone who I don't have to force anything with.”

“Well, it shows. He really is surprisingly good for you, just as fucking Machiavellian as you are... Who would have thunk?”

“Everyone but you, Amy. Don't know how because the signs were right under that cute little button nose of yours.” Gary remarked, speaking for the first time. “It's the classic hate to love trope.” He finished, smugly.

“Nobody asked you, Gary.” Amy replied rolling her eyes.

“Now, now children. Stop fucking arguing.”

“Speaking of children…”

“Amy, do not tell me you are pregnant, because I will fucking -”

“Oh, god no. I was referring to Mike’s brats. The baptism is on Saturday, I figured I would remind you. Since you still don't have a schedule woman, for some odd reason.”

“The pain of replacing that snake Sue is too much to bear. But yes, I am aware that it's Saturday, seeing as I am their Godmother elect.”

“Mike and kids… Literally a child raising children. It's a good thing Wendy already had kids so someone knows what they're doing.”

“I could have avoided this I had fired him when I had the chance.”

“Well, too late now. You're stuck with him for life.”

* * *

“Mom.”

Selina groaned, pulling one of her pillows over her head. She had dismissed Amy and Gary around noon and had taken to her bedroom to spend some time alone process the upcoming day. Shortly after doing so, she had fallen asleep.

“Mooooom.” Catherine whined, and Selina felt the bed shift and pillow was forcibly removed from her grasp.

“What the fuck do you want, Catherine?”

“Can I film tomorrow? Another doc, you know? One leading up to you getting elected in 2020. Nothing risky being involved in it, nothing you don't get to approve, only things that make you and your team look good.”

“You promise that? No footage of me fucking anyone? No foul mouthed meltdowns?”

“Nope, nothing to make you look bad. I was talking to Tom about wanting to do another doc, he was the one who suggested making it on your journey back to the White House.”

“It’s a deal. Don't fuck it up.”

“Great! I've already got some raw footage from the last few months that I think will really show that you're not so awful.”

“I'm not even going to bother on telling you how much of an invasion of privacy that is, it's fine. We’ll review that footage in a few weeks. Now please let me go back to sleep.”

“Why are you sleeping in the middle of the day anyway? Are you depressed? Have you been taking your antidepressants?”

 

She groaned again as a look of panic came across her daughter’s features.

 

“First of all, who is the parent here? Me or you? Secondly, I'm on antidepressants to keep me from being depressed, and I am still taking them, granted not as frequently.”

She wasn't taking them as frequently as before because she felt content more often than not. If it weren't for the fact that she had been so busy as of late, she would have had a sit down with her psychiatrist to discuss going off of them completely.

 “I'm just making sure, mom. I don't want you to have another breakdown if things don't go well tomorrow.”

“Catherine, honey enough. If things don't go well I AM going to have a meltdown, that's not something I can stop from happening. It just won't be anything drastic enough to involve anyone other than my immediate team, that's all. I'm not gonna have to be committed again.”

 

She watched as her daughter raised an eyebrow at her.

  
“Seriously Catherine, I'm fucking fine.”

“Okay. I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Bright and early.”

* * *

“Lina.”

She could hear him whispering her name in the dark and actively chose to ignore him. The sun wasn't even up yet. She had no intention of waking up before dawn, even if she had spent most of the previous day sleeping.

“Liiina.” He groggily continued, wrapping his arms around her waist and bringing his lips to her neck. “Wake up.” He said, kissing below her ear.

“No.” She whined as she rubbed her ass against his crotch.

“Tease.” Tom responded before pulling away. She waited a moment before climbing on top of him and resting her head against his chest.

 “Let me sleep until the sun rises. Then you can fuck me good and hard.” She murmured, running her nails along his chest.

 “You've been sleeping since yesterday, are you okay?” He replied, sliding a hand up the back of her shirt and running it across her back.

Selina groaned. When would people trust her when she said she was okay?

“I'm fine. I'm just exhausted from the last few days. All that fucking ass kissing takes a toll on ya after a week of doing it non stop. Today’s the day of the vote anyway, so I might as well recharge before it."

“Fine, sleep in and if you still want to fuck at some point later today, you know what to do.”

She grabbed his free hand and ran her thumb against his before drifting back to sleep.

* * *

She woke up to an empty bed and the sound of running water.

Selina stood, yawning as she stretched before making her way into the bathroom to find Tom filling up the bathtub.

“Who the hell takes a bath at 8am?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re going to.”

“The fuck I am.” She responded as she grabbed her toothbrush with one hand and the tube of toothpaste with the other. The toothpaste was missing its cap and she grabbed it with a little too much force, causing it’s contents to shoot out onto the mirror. “Goddamn it, Tom! What did I tell you about leaving the toothpaste without the lid?!” She groaned as she used her toothbrush to scrape some of the paste off of the mirror because grabbing a towel to wipe off the rest.

“Sorry, babe.” He replied as he came up behind her and started to rub her shoulders as she brushed her teeth.

She rinsed her mouth before turning to face him.

“You're tense.”

“Of course I'm fucking tense, Tom. The status of my political career is on the line. If I lose this vote, that's it.”

“That’s why we’re gonna take a hot bath to calm you down a bit before the vote.” He responded, reaching for the hem of her shirt and pulling it up. She rolled her eyes as she lifted her arms, allowing him to undress her. She shimmied out of her bottoms.

“You’re not wearing any underwear?”

  
She shrugged, reaching for his shirt and pulling it off of him before pulling at his bottoms. He undressed before walking over to the bathtub and getting in, extending a hand for her to join him.

  
Selina walked over and took his hand, dipping her toes into the water to rest the temperature.

   
“Jesus fuck, that's hot!” She squealed, pulling her foot back out. “No wonder you're in there without a problem, it must remind you of hell.”

 “Lina.”

 She sighed before stepping into the tub, gritting her teeth as she got deeper into the hot water.

“Okay, it’s not as bad when you get used to it.” She commented as she leaned her back against his chest. “Are we really just fucking sit in this hot water or are ya gonna add some bubbles or some shit?”

 “I was getting to that. I needed you to actually get into the damn water first.”

 She felt him shift behind her and drop something into the tub, causing a fizzling sound as the water started to turn multiple shades of purple, pink, and blue.

 “Did Catherine introduce you to bath bombs? Seriously?”

 “She dropped them off when she stopped by last night, suggested you take a bath in the morning to help calm your nerves.”

 “She’s a good kid, a better daughter than I deserve.” She said, after a long cadence.

 “You're not that had. At least you haven't been these last few months. You're making an effort to be nicer to her, it's noticeable.” Tom said as he rested his chin against her shoulder before taking one of her hands and kissing it.

 “God, you're such a sap.” Selina responded, laughing softly before she turned to face him. “We’re covered in glitter.” She lifted her arm out of the water to examine it in better lighting. “That's gonna look fucking great in the publicity shots later.”

“An extra glow.” He retorted, shrugging before leaning forward to kiss her.

* * *

“Here are your meds.” Amy said as she handed her a Prozac and a Xanax, before handing her a bottle of water.

“You know me too well, Ames.”

“Well, I figure that if things go the wrong way, at least those might make you drowsy and you’ll pass out for the next day to take the load off of losing again.”

Selina popped the pills into her mouth before taking a quick swig from her water, wiping at her mouth with a napkin.

“Your lipstick!” Gary exclaimed, already looking through his bag for the tube.

“Oh, fuck off Gary. We’ll reapply it later if we have to.”

“But -”

“No buts.”

  
She watched as he pocketed the tube of lipstick, pouting. She rolled her eyes.

They were currently stationed in her living room, with a C-SPAN countdown until the House would begin their vote, and she was so nervous she thought she might actually throw up.

“Mom, will you eat something, please?” Catherine begged, crossing her arms as she leaned against the door frame between the living room and the dining room.

“How the fuck do you know I haven't eaten today?”

“Because I told her you skipped breakfast. It’s two in the afternoon, eat something.” Tom responded as he slid past Catherine and sat down on the arm of the loveseat Selina was seated in. She felt him kiss the top of her head and she leaned into him as he draped an arm around her shoulders.

“Ugh, fine. Gary? Can you get me something to eat? Preferably involving bread.”

“Where’s the dog?” Amy asked as she looked away from her phone.

“Marjorie is taking him out for a jog.” Catherine replied, still standing against the door frame.

“Catherine can you stop leaning against the fucking door and just sit down somewhere? It's making me anxious.”

“Anything for you, mom.” She retorted, her voice laced with sarcasm as she dropped down onto the floor between the coffee table and the couch. “Is this better?”

Selina inhaled deeply, choosing not to snap at her daughter for being a smart ass.

“How did your hedge fund thing go?” She asked as she looked up at Tom, who was rubbing his hand along her back.

“It was a fucking disaster, so I’ll have to find another investor, preferably one who isn't tied to Russia in some way.”

“You could always con my dad.” Catherine suggested, shrugging. “I mean, I could ask him to invest and he might agree. You know, payback for everything he’s done these last few years.”

Selina stood from her seat and walked over to Catherine, grabbing her face and smothering it with kisses as Catherine protested loudly.

 "Mom what the fuck?!?"

“You really are my daughter!”

“Who are you and what have you done with my real mother?!”

“Don't ever say I never fucking showed affection toward you. Remember this moment when I'm dead.”

She returned to her seat just as Gary walked in with some sort of French bread sandwich on a tray.

“Thanks.” She mumbled as he handed her the tray and she started to pick apart the sandwich. She really wasn't in the mood to eat but she knew she had to eat _something_ before the vote. If she watched it on an empty stomach she might pass out, which was the last thing she wanted.

“Eat this.” She said picking off a slice of tomato and holding it up in Tom’s direction. She felt his mouth against her fingers as he grabbed it with his teeth. “Ugh, you're disgusting.” She groaned, wiping her hand against his pants.

“There’s half an hour to the vote. Dan wants to know if he can set up an interview tonight if you win.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“It's going to be like, immediately after the vote like one of those live things from his phone to stream on facebook. He’s already -”

The doorbell rang and Selina already knew that was Dan before the door had even been opened.

“Madam President.” Dan greeted as he entered the room, with Marjorie behind him.

“Two birds with one stone when Gary opened the door.” Marjorie said as she bent down and unclipped Hamilton’s leash. “Catherine, why are you sitting on the floor?”

“To spite her mother.” Selina responded as she fed the dog the remainder of her sandwich.

* * *

They were an hour into the vote and things were not going in her favor. She was behind by forty votes, putting her at sixty compared to Weiss’s one hundred. She felt sick to her stomach.

 “Somebody get me a fucking smoke.” She groaned, her head in her hands.

“But you only smoke when we’re in another coun -”

“Just get her a fucking cigarette, Gary. Jesus Christ.”

Selina could hear Amy roll her eyes.

“There’s a pack on top of the refrigerator.” Tom commented as she felt him shift beside her.

“Keep ‘em out of her reach because she’s pint sized?” Dan smirked.

“Now is not the fucking time, Dan.” Amy snapped and Selina looked up just in time to watch her punch him in the arm.

“Mom, it’s really not that bad of a difference right now, you’re only thirty votes behind now.”

"Somebody mute that fucking TV. I don't want to hear them say anything other than my name."

Gary approached with pack of cigarettes and a lighter and she snatched it from his hands and stood, making her way out to the back deck.

She was going to lose this vote and her political career would be completely fucking decimated, without a single change of being revived. Selina lit the cigarette and brought it to her lips, hands shaking as she inhaled deeply. She exhaled, leaning against the railing of her back deck, grateful that no one had come out to try and talk to her. She needed a moment to herself to accept her defeat before having to face the humiliation of losing again in front of those closest to her. If she lost this vote, she was going to go off the grid. She was literally going to fall off of the face of the fucking earth, relocate somewhere in Europe and watch this cock suck of a country burn to the ground. Shit, she might even consider renouncing her citizenship. She took one last drag from her cigarette before putting it out and tossing it into the yard. She took a deep breath before walking back into the house, finding everyone huddled in front of the tv.

 “It’s really that fucking bad?” She groaned as she approached them.

 Selina stopped in her tracks as she looked at the count on the screen as one of the representatives from some bumfuck state voted for her.

Meyer - 150

Weiss - 120

Other - 12

“What the fuck? How long was I gone for? Why didn’t one of you nimrods come get me?!?”

 “Ma’am, your votes literally started to rise the moment you stepped out of the room, so did the fucking votes for that scatterbrained governor from Alaska. For some reason there are members of the house who see her fit as the first potential speaker who isn’t in the house?”

 For once, Dan said something useful.

“Politico is reporting that the eight reps from Maryland are going in your favor. So are the twelve from New Jersey and twenty-five of New York’s twenty-seven. If their projections are correct that puts you at one ninety-five.”

They watched intently as the vote continued. Politico was wrong. Maryland was the only state to have all of their reps behind her. She gained twelve from New York and six from New Jersey, bringing her up to a hundred and seventy-six.  The rest of both states going to other options, bringing the other count up to thirty-three, with Weiss was still staggering behind her with a hundred and forty by the time they had reached Rhode Island.

“Meyer.” Said the single representative from South Dakota as Catherine upped the volume on the television.  At least those fucking potato farmers had some sort of sense.

The energy in the room was electric as the vote continued and Weiss’s numbers continued to stay stagnant as Selina’s count rose, along with the other count. Each time a representative voted ‘other’, she wanted to laugh. They really thought that both she and Weiss were too fucked of an option to vote for them. It was almost like they weren’t aware that every vote for other, was just getting her closer to winning the vote.

“Holy shit. You won. That’s it.” Dan said as the last representative from Washington state gave their vote for Selina. “You’re at two seventeen. Weiss can’t catch up with the twelve votes left. Those sixty something morons who voted other made it impossible for him.”

 Selina felt her knees go weak.

 Her career wasn't over. She would have a chance to stay politically relevant. She was the new Speaker of House.

* * *

**2020**

Selina took a deep breath before stepping out onto the stage, approaching the podium.

“It is with great pleasure that I accept this honor of being the FIRST woman elected as President of these United States of America. We’ve finally shattered the highest glass ceiling and I could not have done this without your efforts into my three campaigns these last twelve years. They say third time’s the charm and until this moment I wasn’t so sure of that. This has not been an easy road for me, I’m know you all know that, and yet you still chose me as your candidate, and now as your President. There are not enough words in the English language for me to describe how I feel in this moment.

This would not have been possible without the support of so many of you who campaigned for me, who fundraised for us and went door to door to register voters. I want to especially thank those who have been closest to me throughout this entire process; my campaign manager, Amy Brookheimer who didn’t let her pregnancy get in the way of her job and was working with me up until tonight when she went into labor. I was lucky enough to be in the room as she gave birth to a beautiful little girl, who will never know a world where women couldn’t be President of this country. To my daughter Catherine and her wife Marjorie, for their tireless efforts during this campaign to ensure that the younger voters were well informed and helping this country have the highest voter registration rate in the last twenty years. My husband, Tom for being my rock and keeping me grounded and level headed these last few years and finally to Gary Walsh and Mike McLintock who have both been with me since my days as a Senator.

Without these people and so many others that I wish I had the time to name it would not have been possible for me to stand here in front of you tonight and finally say, we did it. May this be the start of a historic chapter for this country where we only go forward and upward from here, and may we come to realize that we are stronger together.

Good night and God bless America.”


End file.
